Tonari no Shinigami
by BanishedOne
Summary: When the lady Uchiha falls ill, Fugaku turns to his young son for help choosing whether to go through with the coup d'etat, or to leave Konoha to cherish what little time the family has left together. This leads Itachi and Sasuke on a mystical life journey.
1. Chapter 1

::

[Spring]

The old door slid open with a gritty noise but not much effort and the tired man nearing his middle-ages took a few last steps up the stairs into his house. He heaved a deep sigh, finally home. His body performed his usual actions as it auto-piloted and his mind was lost in silly, childish, but dark thoughts.

He wondered if the Troll was watching him now, waiting with gaping jaws as his stomach rumbled for fresh souls leaving their mortal flesh. That glutton- Had he not gorged himself on those beautiful, fresh, tender, young souls already? What more could he possibly want?

The news today was too much for the man to take, yet he bared it sternly, looking unaffected, his shinobi ways still evident even though he had retired, even though he had lost everything unexpectedly.

Secretly, he has shed silent tears on his way home from the hospital but he was too prideful to let them be seen. That was why his sorrows were lost on the dusty roads, in the dark evening hour which was a fair bit past twilight. His thoughts lingered on that cold, white room in the hospital, the room where his three dearest all lay happily together, waiting for him to join them.

But he had unfinished business. After it was taken care of, then he would lay all his stress and sadness behind him and he would visit his family again, finally able to stay with them, rather than making a long trek to an empty house to spend more nights alone, listening to the haunting laughter of what used to be his life.

He found his way to the room he had set aside as his work space, and with lethargic movements, he sat himself down at his old, dusty desk, his wooden chair creaking in deathly complaint as Uchiha Fugaku rested himself there. He reached a scarred shinobi's hand out to clasp one of the old work notebooks he kept, which he had turned into his most important treasure. He held this book firmly, fondly, before he opened it to the page he had left off on.

::

_/..Hey, let's go. Hey, let's go. I'm happy as can be. Let's go walking, you and me. Ready set, come on, let's go../_

::

[Summer]

"Itachi.. Could you come in here, please?"

The young shinobi lingered in the doorway with questioning eyes, his small sibling clinging to him from behind, shying away as he was already aware that he typically was not invited to aid in discussion of family-related issues.

Itachi nodded to his father as he was summoned, though he took a moment to coax his little brother to head off to bed to rest his puffy eyes, assuring the boy that he would come along soon to stay beside him in bed.

The entire family had a rough day, but Sasuke took the news particularly hard- He was still so delicate at such a young age.

Once the small charge was on his way to his room, the lithe young Uchiha of only eleven years slid himself gracefully into the room where his father waited for him. Petite hands slid the door shut behind him until it clicked softly and from there Itachi took a seat before his father to listen.

"Yes, Tousan?" A sweet, soft voice spoke up from behind pink lips that held a neutral but solemn expression- Today was a time, especially, for seriousness.

While the young heir was calm, however, the normally stoic head of the clan seemed more conflicted than usual; This was a strange thing for Itachi to witness, and though it didn't show, his heart was shaken by his father's own weary nerves.

"It seems that your mother's illness won't be going away anytime soon. Nobody could have predicted that she would come down with such a rare ailment as it has been mostly unheard of in our family for years.. It truly makes me fear the worst for the future." The older man sighed in frustration as he turned his eyes to glance elsewhere, his mind clogged with so many thoughts that he was uncertain of anything anymore. (This was, however, why he had now turned to his eldest son.)

"Will Okaasan be alright? Sasuke is devastated at just the notion of her hospitalization, though he doesn't fully understand the gravity of her illness..." The young heir remained focused and calm, trying to aid his father in strength.

"Her health could go either way at this point... And so could yours or Sasuke's in the future, or so it seems possible now that we know the ailment existed in her particular line... It is just one more thing to worry about, but... It also puts quite a dent in our plans for the uprising.."

Itachi took his father's tired words in, thinking on them carefully, though he was trying even harder to find out what exactly Uchiha Fugaku was considering most dear at this point- The head family could lie in shambles anytime in the future, and the relationship between the Uchiha clan and Konoha's higher-ups was failing more with each passing day.

The boy said nothing yet of suggestion, but he sought further information from his father in order to help him think things over. "What must be done about Okaasan?"

"Well.." The older Uchiha began slowly, every little detail holding such heavy weight in his mind. "The medical facilities in Konoha are more adapted to dealing with combat-related injuries, and your mother is going to need very detailed, long-term care for this sickness.. A more specialized clinic outside of the village seems suitable, but there aren't any within reasonable distance, if we want to actually be there for your mother rather than brushing her aside.."

"..I see." Itachi quietly spoke up in understanding as his dark eyes trailed down to his lap. With Itachi otherwise silent, Fugaku continued.

"And you can be sure that if any conflict happens within Konoha, your mother will certainly die, as well as either you or Sasuke if one or both of you come down with it as well.."

"An uncertain future does disturb the process of making decisions in the present."

Fugaku nodded softly to his son, seeing Itachi appearing to be just as downtrodden by the new turn of events. However, the young boy was unaware of the new suggestion Fugaku was going to make- The older Uchiha had been carefully thinking on what options he had, but for all his consideration, he didn't particularly favor either option. This is why he now turned to his son, wanting to see what Itachi would decide, wanting to see, for once, what Itachi actually _wanted_.

"It seems at this point that rebellion could end in failure, and definitely if you should happen to become ill, though otherwise.. There is a chance- It really is a gamble. But, on the other hand, your mother needs to be taken out of Konoha for treatment, which could ease the transition of more of the family out of Konoha.."

Itachi's eyes glanced up at this notion, some light bleakly shining up from those dark depths. "What are you suggesting Tousan?"

"We can either stay here in Konoha and go about our plans.. Or, we, along with probable others from the clan, can move out of Konoha's borders to another community."

The young boy found himself shaking his head all too quickly in denial of his father's words. "This would almost certainly not be allowed."

"It would take some very smooth pleading on my part to ease into it, and the thought sickens me to no end.. But I think as long as the Uchiha maintains some presence in Konoha, lending our strength to their foolish purposes, it might be a feasible opportunity... And as well, I'd have to consistently travel between Konoha and our new home to direct clan business and relations, as well as do some sort of other work since remaining a shinobi would not even be realistic."

"Would it not be a terrible burden to do such a thing?"

"It would be.." Uchiha Fugaku found himself sighing again, the thought of the burden mentioned making him tired, even in his thoughts. "But anything else is a gamble, and there are so many things to take into consideration.."

The young shinobi blinked to his father's words, not understanding yet what Uchiha Fugaku was getting at. "Such as..?"

"Well.. Our lives, now that my wife and both of my sons seem to be faced with peril. But I hold hopes that this illness won't destroy my entire family.. Still, even with treatment your mother could die, and I think using our time wisely may be the best decision.. But, if we leave Konoha, it would mean that you and Sasuke would be schooled normally, rather than as shinobi.. And since this effects you almost as much as it effects myself, and I don't feel comfortable with either decision.. I want you to tell me what you want to do, Itachi.. What do you want?"

"..Tousan.." The young heir stared at his father, overwhelmed at what was so openly placed upon him to decide. He never thought he would see the day that his father actually considered his opinion. He never thought his father even considered him capable enough to make this sort of decision... (He never thought his father even cared what he wanted from life..)

Was old Fugaku becoming sentimental? Was he tiring of the shinobi life, even with such pride in his bloodline, a bloodline made only for combat?

"..Tousan.. Surely you don't really think my decision is of any importance?"

Fugaku remained neutral, though he found it a bit leveling to see exactly how obvious it was that Itachi must have felt unthought-of. It made the older male almost ashamed of his stern, solely dominant ways. "..Right now.. Your decision is the only one of importance."

(And whether Fugaku liked it or not, soon enough Itachi's decisions would probably be forced upon the older male as well, if they remained a family of shinobi, rather than a family.)

There was a long moment of silence, but for the older male it was comfortable enough- He simply allowed his son time to think on things. However, it was interesting noting that Itachi himself did not seem simply 'comfortable'. No, even though the boy kept his emotions perfectly hidden behind an expressionless face, Fugaku could see that Itachi's mind was buzzing with unexpected questions and the emotion within the boy was simply longing to burst from him. The only sign of this was the slightest tremble of the young Uchiha's tiny hands.

But at last the young heir came to a conclusion, and his lips parted to speak a few seconds before he was able to get the soft words out of his mouth. "..I would like to leave Konoha, Tousan."

The head of the family nodded to his son sternly, taking in the answer he was finally given. "Then you really wish to give up the life of a shinobi for whatever awaits you outside?"

A soft nod came after another tiny second of polite hesitation. "Yes."

"Then.. That is what we shall do. You may leave now."

::

_/...tbc.../_


	2. Chapter 2

::

[Summer]

The three-strong family walked in a neat line, the tallest member walking in front while his two young sons followed behind him, hand-in-hand. Fugaku was even more solemn than usual, but that was because this was a time for seriousness, and a time for respect. He carried on in silence, his expression neutral, but looking terribly angry where he should have seemed melancholy.

Itachi understood this concept incredibly well, whereas his Otouto was curious, and didn't quite grasp what was going on. Sasuke clung with a bit of nervousness to Itachi's hand, glancing around at the grave-markers, dark eyes wary of ghosts or something he understood to be a spirit who came to take you away when you died. The little boy was terrified that the spirit might come to take him while he was still alive.

As the three Uchiha arrived at the two miniature grave-markers that they had come to visit, the clan head bent down to place a stick of incense into a burner, and he lit the object, carefully making sure it only burned in weak embers. Curls of smoke drifted upward in intricate twists, disturbed by the slightest movement of hands, or wind, but it calmed down as the incense burned, the smoke making a grayish path upward into the sky.

While Fugaku busied his hands, his two sons whispered quietly to one another. Sasuke, who hugged his brother's hand, and rubbed a soft cheek into Itachi's arm, looked up with dark eyes that were sad, but confused, wishing he could understand this ritual. "Who are they, again, Niisan?"

The elder of the two boys looked down at his sibling, blinking, his expression seeming withdrawn, though he simply gave this appearance for his father's sake. Itachi wasn't sure whether these things made him sad or not, but he gave Sasuke a pat to comfort him; Some lessons in life were hard to grasp, especially when they were of the more grim variety. "They were our brothers, Sasuke. They're our brothers who died. That's why Kaasan and Tousan are always so sad when they come here."

Sasuke looked forward at the grave markers for a moment, then over at his father who had his head lowered with his eyes shut, and his hands rested together in mournful prayer. Sasuke quickly imitated this position, though he did it with his arms wrapped around one of Itachi's, for security. The boy did not remain so quiet, however, and he muttered another question into Itachi's sleeve as he rested his head there. "Are they older brothers or younger brothers?"

Itachi kept his head down, but he opened his eyes to look at Sasuke, smiling softly, and sadly at how compassionate his Otouto was- He found it surprising that Sasuke was able to seem so mournful over people he had never met. For Fugaku and Mikoto it was different; Mikoto had carried these two dead children, and was endlessly depressed and even guilty for their loss. Fugaku had been by his wife's side through the pregnancy, and had shared in the joy of preparing to have another child, just for the dream to become a nightmare in the end. "Well, they both would have been my younger brothers, but one would have been older than you, and one would have been younger."

This conversation, and the process of mourning was not something Sasuke was terribly joyful for, in fact, he almost always found himself crying when his Kaasan and Tousan came to the graveyard. He didn't understand why, but it was the sadness of everybody surrounding him that caused his gloomy tears. Even now, he sniffled against his brother's arm watching their father mourn, and seem so sad.

There was one other thing that was troubling Sasuke today; The boy was having a problem with the concept of death, while now making an effort to grasp it. Most children didn't consider it, but shinobi children were always familiarized much too soon. The tiny Uchiha boy, in this instance, was facing the reality of death, and what it meant, seeing that it caused a loved person to go away forever. He had been trying to figure out what death meant ever since he had been told that his mother was very sick.

Understanding why these babies, his brothers, had died, was simply a comparison in the little boy's mind. That was why he was so curious all of a sudden. "Niisan? Why did they die?"

But Itachi only shrugged, speaking a whispered response before he fell silent. "I don't know."

::

/_..Over the hill, across the field, through the tunnel we'll go. We'll run across the bridge, and down the bumpy gravel road.._/

::

[Summer]

"..That's why I want you to take over my position." Uchiha Fugaku sternly addressed his fellow Uchiha clan member, and member of the police force, Uchiha Inabi.

Since the leader of the Uchiha clan was leaving Konoha, he was resigning from his position in the force, and reassigning it to another of his worthy and dependable clansmen. However, Inabi stared with dark eyes that were both confused, and wary of this decision.

"It's an honor, captain, but.. Why are you resigning?"

"I'm leaving Konoha." These words were stated simply, in a detached tone, and as per usual, Uchiha Fugaku didn't shift his expression to anything more or less than complete neutrality, though the tired creases in his face seemed darker than ever.

But the young, capable Inabi reacted to the news with the emotional drive that burned within all Uchiha; His eyes grew wider in shock, and utter disbelief at what he was hearing from proud Fugaku. "You're leaving? How did you manage to convince the council members to allow you to leave? You ARE the head of the Uchiha clan.. That makes it look like you're planning to move the entire clan out, and you know the leaders of Konoha can't have THAT."

Indeed, Inabi DID expect that perhaps his sly leader, with all of his pride, might be planning some sort of mass abandonment of Konoha, but he was unsure. It seemed unlike any Uchiha to just run away from problems they were faced with.

Fugaku probably was a bit too proud for such a thing, and too clever to think it would ever work; Konoha would simply tail the clan wherever they ran, and slowly pick them off, one by one. He simply shook his head to the other Uchiha in his company, and explained, wishing he could avoid the conversation that was soon to follow. "I have some very hard-to-deny reasons."

With a glance over his shoulder, Inabi lowered his voice. "What about..the coup d'etat?"

Inabi was young, proud, and fiery; He was a prime example of what it meant to be a youthful Uchiha, so willing to fight. This was why he looked up at Uchiha Fugaku with an expectant stare, not wanting to believe that his leader was abandoning the clan. That expectant look was returned with a sharpened stare from the Clan Head, his own eyes flickering about, wary at all times.

The older Uchiha's voice also lowered as he spoke in a scolding tone to the younger male. "You should know better than to mention that so openly. But, for now, I've dropped those plans."

Unable to be deterred, the younger of the two men lifted his hands in a desperate gesture, wanting to see the head of his proud family tell him that they would eventually be free from Konoha's restrictive ways. Inabi continued to speak lowly, though his tone grew more fierce, while remaining highly respectful. "But, if we don't do something, then we'll be forced to submit ourselves to substandard treatment forever.. We're prisoners here, Captain."

All that the older Uchiha could do was sigh in frustration. He was well-aware of the situation, he knew better than anybody, and was as offended as the rest of his family. But he was also facing extreme circumstances, and he had already promised his eldest son that the clan would not resort to violence. Calmly, Uchiha Fugaku responded to his cousin's aggravated words. "I'm sorry, Inabi. But my wife has fallen ill, and needs long-term treatment, and it is also possible that my sons may become sick as well. I'm in no position to call myself a revolutionary anymore. And the leaders of this place still don't plan to leave me in peace. They require my presence here in Konoha as a term of us leaving the village; I have to participate in regular meetings with certain council members concerning the Clan, and I still have to handle clan business as well. Hopefully I can make some progress with establishing more equal rights for us this way."

Attempting to reach a peaceful solution? Inabi was unconvinced, and he folded his arms against his chest while making his opinion apparent by the look on his face. He didn't want to antagonize his leader, however, so he just sighed dejectedly and brushed his long, dark hair over his shoulder with a soft shake of his head. "That seems very tedious.."

Nodding, Uchiha Fugaku agreed to his respectable young cousin's statement, feeling frustrated, defeated, and exhausted as much as surely every other Uchiha was, perhaps more so. He hadn't even scratched the surface as far as explaining the hoops he was being forced to jump through. (Just like some tame animal; It was humiliating.) "On top of that, I'm being made to teach a specialized class for the Uchiha and Hyuuga students at the academy."

Inabi continued to shake his head in disgust at what his leader was going through as he spoke up. "Sounds like your going to be working all the time, not being with your family."

The older Uchiha hadn't truly thought of it on the terms that his fellow Uchiha stated so plainly, but it did seem true. He would be working himself to death while his family fell apart. This must have been such a convenience to Konoha, but sadly, the man's hands were tied, and there was nothing more he could do or say.

:: ::

[Summer]

The roads were dusty, and the sun beamed overhead, still strong and golden in the early hours of the day. Two horses clip-clopped in front of the cart that they were pulling, their loud breathing coming out in puffs from their soft muzzles. Beyond the dusty road, fields stretched for miles before meeting with the endless barrier of forest that took up the majority of space in the Land of Fire.

The head of the Uchiha family rested calmly in the front of the cart, the horses reins held loosely in his calloused hands as he focused on the road ahead of him, anxious to finally arrive at the new home. The man and his two children had packed over the past week, and loaded up a cart with boxes that very morning, before dawn. When the father and his sons left from the gates of Konoha, the sky was only a misty purplish-blue, the air still crisp, and cool, though the sun peeked over the horizon soon after to warm the Land of Fire.

In the back of the cart, safely nestled in a cubby space beneath a desk, the two young sons of Uchiha Fugaku shared a snack. Sasuke had been a bit groggy until now, the strain of waking so early and the stress of the move wearing on his five-year old mind and body. He had since woken up, after an hour of napping in the back of the cart, snuggled against his Niisan under a quilt, and he was much more lively now; more like his typical self. His dark eyes gleamed brightly as he grinned, and munched on tomato crackers, and caramel candies that his elder brother generously shared, despite his greedy sweet-tooth.

As the two young Uchiha children ate their snack, they looked out from beneath the desk, beyond the cart at the grassy fields, and the long, wild grasses as they swayed in a soft breeze. Sasuke grinned merrily between nibbles of his crackers, while Itachi softly smiled, his dark eyes taking everything in, a warm feeling growing deep inside him.

This feeling was the comfort and happiness that came with escape from the world he had known all his life; Shinobi, war, fighting. He found it all deplorable, even though the people of Konoha seemed friendly enough, and the city itself was a nice place to be. No matter how perfect a picture was painted over the surface of Konoha, and what it stood for, nobody could deny the truth. It was a city of murderers, full of strong opinions and justifications for all their wrongdoings, and Itachi could not understand, nor did he want to.

For the first time in his life, he finally felt free. True, his mother might have been ill, and there was a chance that either himself or Sasuke could get sick as well, but for now he forgot all else, and let himself feel happy. With that same soft smile printed on his face, the young Uchiha heir peeked out from under the desk, looking in the direction of his father, who was sitting quietly in the front of the cart.

In a smooth voice that allowed the tiniest fragment of cheeriness to be heard, Itachi called out to his father. "Hey, Tousan, do you want a caramel candy?"

"Hm?" With sharp, black eyes, Fugaku glanced back at his son. It seemed so strange that the elder of the young boys had a smile on his face, but the sight felt almost like a good omen. "..So, you two are finally awake again? You know your Okaasan doesn't really like for me to eat sweets."

Lifting a hand to tame his long hair as it freely danced in the breeze, the Uchiha heir held his other hand out to his father, a coy sort of grin consuming his expression. "I won't tell her."

The man held out one hand to receive the candy offered to him, a slight chuckle audible, though his expression did not shift; He simply remained his calm, reserved self as he contemplated Itachi. When had his eldest son gotten so devious? Fugaku was certain he hadn't noticed until right now.

Suddenly, another tiny head covered in raven hair appeared from beneath the desk. Sasuke beamed in his father's direction with dark, doe-eyes, and a smile. "Tousan, are we almost there?"

The head Uchiha nodded to his youngest son, and pointed a single finger in the direction that the road moved, straight ahead. In the distance, the wall of forest broke apart, and a huge expanse of fields and tiny farm cottages came into visual, all of them resting in a quaint valley, just beneath a forested mountain. "Our new home is right ahead, there in that small community."

This particular village was small, and devoid of shinobi, though it was watched over by Konoha, being very important to the great ninja village. It was a farming community that provided a large percent of raw goods and meats to Konoha to feed the shinobi that protected the country.

Both brothers smiled to themselves as their perceptive, black eyes moved along what could be seen in the distance. The younger male started bouncing excitedly, but his brother quickly calmed him, patting Sasuke upon his spiky, raven hair.

It was only a few more minutes before the cart pulled through the gate around the community, Itachi quickly noting with a smile that the gate was more of a marker to make travelers aware of the town, rather than a heavy defense. In fact, the quaint, open gate that framed the road seemed to welcome travelers and all strangers, seeing as there was not a single guard to be found.

The family proceeded quickly through the downtown area of the village, but they didn't stop. All three Uchiha keenly glanced around at everything, taking it in as they passed by. This town was dwarfed by Konoha, only a few essential businesses dotted here and there alongside the dusty roads, the buildings so tiny in comparison to Konoha's greatness and glory. There was a small market, and a bakery, a butcher shop, and a fishery, a blacksmith, a tailor, and a few local restaurants, and then what appeared to be a town center, surrounded by an open walk space for town festivals, and markets. It may have been smaller than Konoha, but it was also much more colorful and vibrant, flowers sprouting from every patch of green, and lovely shade trees that leaned over the roads and sidewalks.

This area was bypassed, and the cart proceeded down the road, time seeming to pass so quickly as the family simmered in excitement. They had all been so busily observing that they hardly noticed when they finally pulled up in front of a farm cottage neighboring the home that they, themselves, would be moving into. The eldest Uchiha gave the reins in his hand a tug to halt his two horses, and they snorted complaints, but still came to a stop. One brown and white dappled horse shook her head as her hoof was stamped, and the noise caused a young boy working out in front of the farm cottage to look up.

This boy had been slumped over a pile of hay which he was shoveling into a wheelbarrow, but he turned around to face the halted cart as he straightened, dark eyes gleaming curiously toward the man sitting in the front of the cart.

As the young male gave his attention to Fugaku, the man calmly asked the boy if his parents were about, wanting to announce his arrival to his neighbors, and greet them. Fugaku was easily granted a pointed finger, and a verbal answer of, "Their out working in the field, just on the other side of the road."

The Head Uchiha climbed from the cart, and walked around toward the field, off to greet his neighbors, just as he mentioned. Itachi and Sasuke remained in the back of the cart, tucked beneath the desk, though they both peeked out to look at the boy working in his yard. The elder of the two gazed at this other boy with a particular interest, certain that he recognized the other male.

This boy appeared to be a year or two older than Itachi, standing a bit taller. He was wearing work clothes that easily allowed him to stay cool, and a headband covering his forehead, just above almond-shaped, black eyes. The older male had a head of curled, raven hair, and when this boy finally noticed the two others watching him, his expression shifted to surprise, and he quickly turned his back, and hurriedly got back to work.

"Huh?" The Uchiha heir blinked curiously to himself as his sibling snuggled against him in elation. "..is that.. Shisui?"

The father of the two boys soon arrived back at the cart, and he climbed into the front, giving his two loyal horses a snap of the rein to signal them to start walking again. The man was quiet, but Itachi poked his head out from under the desk, dark eyes looking up at his father. "Hey, Tousan, was that boy Shisui?"

Fugaku glanced back at Itachi, seeming surprised that his son recognized an old friend that he hadn't seen in a few years. The man had expected that Itachi wouldn't remember somebody he played with when he was younger, but it appeared that the heir's memory served him well. The Head Uchiha nodded to his eldest son, speaking up calmly to explain. "Yes, that's right. Shisui's family left Konoha a few years ago, with a few other small families from the Uchiha clan. They weren't very comfortable in Konoha, and some things were going to happen in the future that they didn't want to be involved in.. You know what I'm talking about, Itachi."

"..Yes." Itachi gave his father a nod, though his eyes focused on the horizon, not really looking at anything in particular as he contemplated. He recalled that after Shisui moved, he had sent Itachi a few letters.

But Itachi never responded.

::

..tbc..

::

_If you read, please review._


	3. Chapter 3

::

[Summer]

All he ever really wanted was to just be himself; It was just his unfortunate circumstances that he was born into a shinobi village. Being born a shinobi meant giving your life to protect that village, and the rest of your country. There was little room for much else in Konoha. There wasn't a place for boys who laid in fields all day, wishing that they could fly like the birds who flittered merrily above.

Uchiha Shisui- He just wanted to be himself. But his mother helped him realize that everyone wanted that very same thing, and that it was the shinobi of Konoha that allowed the people of the Fire Country to live however they wished.

(His mother was a baker, who owned a shop in the Uchiha district of Konoha.)

It was people like Shisui's father that allowed everyone in the Fire Country to live as they pleased; He was an elite soldier of Konoha, a member of the ANBU. Shisui was very proud of his father, and loved him dearly, though he never dreamt of being like him. He never imagined he would become a shinobi, until he was enrolled in the academy, and learning how to throw kunai.

This young Uchiha didn't really want to fight over the land. He didn't care to protect the dirt beneath his feet. He wanted to sprout wings, somehow, and fly far away. That was the only thing he dreamed of, and his mother never missed an opportunity to scold the boy for his tendency to allow his thoughts to flutter in the breeze.

It was when Shisui met _him_ that he stopped wanting to be himself, and started wanting to be _that boy_. _That boy_ frequented his mother's bakery, spoiling his dinner each day with treats and dumplings. _That boy_ was graceful and lovely, and had already fully mastered his sharingan. And _that boy_ spoke of the strength of Konoha being the peace for Konoha. _That boy_ was the reason that Shisui found focus within himself.

Shisui thought that if he could be more like _that boy_, he may one day be able to do what he wanted. _That boy_; Uchiha Itachi, who became Shisui's best friend.

But, it was the father of _that boy_ that Shisui's own father cursed steadily; Shisui would pay no mind. What business was it of his that his own father was supposed to become head of the Uchiha clan? What did it matter to Shisui that, for the first time in the history of the Uchiha clan, a younger brother was designated heir to the clan?

Shisui's father hated his own younger brother, Uchiha Fugaku, cursing him, saying that he was only made head of the Clan because of his deeper loyalty to the family than the city. But none of that was Shisui's business.

He might have been upset when his father was suddenly removed from ANBU, but it wasn't his place to put the blame upon anybody, because his father did enough of that. Shisui's father cursed Uchiha Fugaku, saying that it was because of the suspicious nature of the clan, and the aloof behavior of his younger brother, the clan head, that he was dismissed, yet Shisui took no side.

Shisui blamed nobody when his parents separated; His father wanted to leave Konoha, because he wanted nothing to do with the secret plans that the rest of the clan was so set upon. His mother had constantly been bickering with her husband, stating that the Uchiha clan wasn't wrong for wanting to fight for more equal treatment, even if she wished it could be that they could obtain this without bloodshed. She said that her husband was simply consumed by jealousy, and while they made the trip out of Konoha together, their relationship had been destroyed.

That was just life, and there was nobody to blame. Shisui found Uchiha Fugaku respectable, and Itachi was his friend. He wouldn't let his silly life's unfortunate circumstances become a drawback in his friendship, and even after he moved away from Konoha, and started going to normal school, he wrote to his friend and cousin, hopeful that Itachi's responses could give him inspiration.

But, no matter how long Shisui waited, those responses wouldn't come, and suddenly, everything was Itachi's fault.

::

_/..We'll creep beneath the spider's web. Ready, set, come on, let's go.../_

::

[Summer]

The boy's in the back were practically shaking the entire cart in excitement- The head of the Uchiha clan watched the road with a soft expression, somehow feeling relief at being able to tell his sons were so happy about the move. Itachi, in particular, appeared to be undergoing some strange metamorphosis that had begun ever since they left Konoha's walls, and in Fugaku's mind, it served to prove that all of his people would be happier, if they were only free.

It was still a melancholy thought, but he didn't want to analyze it any further. He kept sharp eyes on the dusty road, the house on the outskirts of town, back into the forest a bit, but sitting up on a hill full of open, grassy fields. He was finally sure that he had located the right place, seeing the mailbox and box number he had been searching for, and he gave a tug on the reins that rested in his hands, slowing the horses to a stop.

"This is it." He spoke in a calm tone, but loud enough for his son's to hear, knowing they were ready to explode from excitement. With a wince, he stretched his stiff legs out, and stood just in time to witness the extent of the other two passengers' elation; Itachi laid his delicate-looking hands on the edge of the cart, just to quickly flip from the space he had been tucked in throughout the ride.

The young Uchiha heir landed with a soft thud on the dusty road, turning and watching in semi-amusement as Sasuke struggled just trying to get over the ledge; This caused the younger of the two to pout, his expression turning sour and grouchy. The elder didn't leave Sasuke hanging long enough to allow lack-of-sleep to throw the other boy into a grumpy fit, however, and he helped his sibling from the cart to the ground only after a momentary snicker.

Still stretching his legs, and waiting for help to show up with getting moved in, Fugaku patiently turned his attention to unhitching the two horses, so to lead them up to the field next to the new house. His sons stuck around for a few moments, curious, inquisitive, observant Itachi wanting to feast his dark eyes on a stream that ran beneath a tiny bridge.

Equally inquisitive, yet trying so hard to be exactly like his brother, Sasuke looked over the old, wooden railing at the trickle below, just the same as Itachi was doing. His big, dark eyes shimmered, reflecting the clear, clean, moving water as it poured over smooth stones, next coming to focus on a congregation of black specks swimming freely in the water. He blinked, his pinkish lips opening slightly as if to pronounce the word 'ohh!', yet it didn't come out.

Instead, he pointed a tiny finger in the direction of those spiraling specs, looking up at Itachi with pinkish cheeks, and the warm glow of childish excitement. "Niisan! What are those little black things swimming around?"

Refocusing his gaze, having been observing the entire scene, Itachi looked down into the water at the single still pool that was peacefully puddled up behind a larger rock, noticing the 'black things' that Sasuke had mentioned. "They're baby frogs, Otouto. They'll grow legs, eventually."

"So.." Uchiha Fugaku walked past the two boys, dragging the horses along by their head collars, and they gladly followed, relieved to no longer be pulling a heavy cart. "What do you two think so far?"

"It's seems pretty so far." The older of clan head's two sons skirted past, just barely able to run around the horses, though he gave an answer as he passed. Sasuke strained his short legs to keep up with the graceful gait of Itachi full sprint, though the child wore an ecstatic grin as he called for his elder brother to wait up in an elevated, yet bell-like tone. The horses snorted at the tiny human's erratic movements, and pitchy voice, somewhere between confusion and annoyance.

Fugaku caught up to his sons at the top of the hill, the trail that led from the road to the house behind them, and the house in clear view; Itachi and Sasuke were both standing, seemingly in awe of the old structure, both pairs of eyes set unblinkingly on the medium-sized, white house. "You two seem to like it."

"It's so much larger than our old house." Itachi's soft smile appeared upon his countenance as a warm breeze swept his bangs in wisps over his forehead, his long lashes fluttering against his cheeks for a moment as his pushed back his hair, then continued to gaze. "Come on, Sasuke!"

A larger hand reached down to grasp Sasuke's tiny one, and both boy's took off toward the house, the elder tugging his beloved sibling along, Sasuke giggling all the while, likely just happy that Itachi was touching him, and giving him attention. (Sasuke was something of an attention sponge, always so deprived, due to the fact that every member of his family was a busy one, until now.)

"There's even a patio, see Sasuke." Itachi only let go of Sasuke's hand when he spotted a golden opportunity to show off. He jumped with the fluid grace of a young fawn, grabbing onto the overhang that wrapped around the patio, and he swung back and forth, throwing his lean legs enthusiastically out before him. He thought that since this overhang functioned as a decorative means, and for growing flower and fruit vines, that it was sturdy; When the wood that supported the overhang wailed out in complaint, and began to lean, Itachi quickly rethought his previous assumption, letting go without hesitation, and rushing over to one of the beams to straighten it, hopeful that it wouldn't fall.

It turned out that the wood was just very rotted, its white paint chipped, and its nails rusty, and loose, so the structure was wobbly, but unlikely to fall without some heavy strain. Itachi smiled to himself in amusement, wiggling the support beam, now sure that it was safe enough. "It's so rotted.."

Itachi gave the beam a push, watching it waver to one side, where Sasuke pushed it back in his brother's direction, giggling as wood fell in tiny bits, down onto Itachi's head, to which he said, 'hey!'

The heir darted out from under the structure, shaking his head free of any chipped wood bits, while giving Sasuke a playful shove against his shoulder. The elder boy was just about take off running, initiating a game of chase with his baby sibling, when he heard a gruff noise from under the porch, so instead, he stood still, looking in the direction of the noise.

From beneath the porch, weaving through a hole where there was a panel missing, came an old, gray tabby cat. She called out to the children, her meows long, but scratchy, as if it had been a long while since she made any noises. She looked at the children curiously with big, green eyes, her friendly nature clear in her calm expression.

She must have been somebody's cat, at some point, and now she lived here, abandoned, but was still more than willing to accept love from strangers. The ten-year-old boy felt his heart sink slightly at the shabby condition of the old cat's fur, seeing that she had nobody to take care of her; His sibling, on the other hand, obviously didn't recognize this, knowing only that a 'kitty' had suddenly come up to them with her tail up, and a grin upon her maw.

Sasuke rushed up to gently pat this gray feline, her old rattling purr instantly starting up in response to the soft, tiny hands. The elder sibling smiled serenely, secretly, adoring his brother who overlooked this cat's sagging belly-skin, and tattered ears, just innocently loving another creature without question. Itachi found his Sasuke to be a very sweet, pure-hearted boy.

A neighbor from nearby had wandered up the trail that led to the house, and called out to the family as he spotted them. It was Fugaku, who had been shooing the horses out into the field, that turned to respond, raising his hand to acknowledge the help that had arrived. He came over to greet his neighbor kindly, thanking the other man for coming to aid the family in getting moved in.

Itachi looked over his shoulder as his father conversed with another dark-haired, dark-eyed man, thinking to himself that this other man was likely a fellow Uchiha who had moved out this way the year before. The other man was speaking in an amused tone, asking 'What brought the head family here from Konoha?', which Fugaku explained simply with 'My wife has fallen very ill, and needed better treatment than they offered in Konoha, though it seems unlikely that she will recover.'

The other man was speaking in a softer, more solemn tone by this point, sympathetically nodding his head as he said, "The change of scenery, and escaping from the depressing bustle of the shinobi village will help soothe the entire family, I hope." Itachi had turned his listening ear away from the conversation, however, not wanting to hear anymore of it.

Blissfully ignorant, the youngest of the group had now lifted the old cat into his arms, hugging her enthusiastically, while facing his father, and calling out, "Tousan, I found a kitty, can we keep her?"

Everyone turned to Sasuke as he spoke; The neighbor smiled in adoration of the charming boy, while Fugaku remained stern as he considered his son's request. He was still in the mindset where he believed this country escape was all going toward teaching his sons, gently, about death, while consoling their young, adaptable hearts. The cat, as rough as she looked, could be just a conveniently placed step in the entirety of the process, being that she was so old. With this considered, Fugaku nodded his head to Sasuke, wisely speaking, "It seems she already lived here anyway, so it isn't our place to kick her out."

"Yay! I'm gonna call her Momo-chan!" As Sasuke celebrated in a gleeful voice, the cat, now dubbed 'Momo' finally wriggled free of the child's awkward hug around her belly, and shook herself off as if she had just been rolled through the dirt. With a swish of her long tail, she walked at a relaxed gait over to the shady garden near the porch, and decided that a nap in the monkey-grass was now in order.

Momo wasn't the only one who wanted to carry on; Itachi gave his sibling a nudge to gain his attention, then bolted off into the field. He felt they needed to get away from the discussion going on between their father and the other man present, exploring their new home a welcome distraction.

"Watch this, Sasuke," the elder spoke, while freely running about the overgrown field, among the tall, purple wildflowers. The ground was so soft beneath his feet, so much that it was somewhat springier than normal dirt, and Itachi bounced on his toes, throwing himself into the air, and twirling into a flip. He landed upon his feet, but kept going, letting his hands fly down toward the ground, and his feet gracefully moved over his head before he sprung back to standing.

Of course, Sasuke was wholly impressed at his brother's graceful moves, wanting to replicate it so that he could be just as amazing. He laughed aloud, suddenly stopping from a full run, then he leaned down, letting his head touch the ground, and he rolled forward, landing on his bottom, though he stood up in a flash. "Was that right, 'tachi-nii? Did I do it right?"

A soft chuckle escaped the older boy, and he laid his thin fingers over his lips to restrain it, just nodding his head to his brother, humoring him. "That was perfect, Sasuke."

Elated, the younger of the two grinned from one blushed, pink cheek to the other, then turned on heel, and scampered back in the direction of the house. His ever-fickle attention diverted quickly from whatever he had thought to explore back at the house, however, when he laid his inky doe-eyes on a small fish-pond that had been set up in the yard. Without even braking, he bolted toward the pond, watching as basking toads hopped to safety in the water, startled by the sudden approach of a human.

Joyful and easily contented, the tiny child skipped across the murky pond on stepping stones, then circled, just calmly looking about for something to intrigue his young mind. He was joined by his brother, who had walked over. Itachi skipped across the pond as well, his eyes poised to stare at the rippling water while he wondered if any of those toads might surface, so that he could grab it up, and offer it to Sasuke as a gift.

Instead of finding a stray toad, Itachi watched the rippled pool go completely still, the sunshine and shadows reflecting upon the surface, and capturing his interest. He traced his eyes upward to find the objects that cast their shadow on the water, those inky optics not stopping until they were looking at something stretched high into the sky, and over the rest of the forest like a great canopy, yet it was only one single tree, much larger than all the others. Even in the forests surrounding Konoha, Itachi had never seen a tree that had lived such a long life as to grow straight up into the clouds.

"Wow.." The heir said very little, though his single word caused Sasuke to glance up at him, before turning to locate whatever his sibling was staring at.

"Whoa!" Sasuke exclaimed. "I've never seen such a giant tree!"

The young boy turned, looking back toward the house for his father, spotting him walking past, just busying himself with moving boxes into the house. "Tousan, see that big tree?"

With a calm expression, Uchiha Fugaku first turned to acknowledge his sons, then he lifted dark eyes to the sky above, and the great, leafy branches that had reached up into the never-ending azure. He gave the two young boy's a soft nod of his head, his lips straightening into what seemed like a neutral expression, though his eyes were alight with a hint of interest. "Villagers say that a forest spirit lives inside that tree, and that it takes care of the forest, but that it also comes to collect souls before they journey into the afterlife.."

He slowed his walk to a stop, turning more in his sons' direction, and shifting his gaze to rest upon them as they listened with interest. "..actually, it's one of the reasons I chose to move into this particular house. I thought the lore was interesting, and that the two of you would find it interesting as well, with all those books you two read about legends."

(Actually, Itachi was the one who read books about legends, but he would tell Sasuke stories, which eventually had Sasuke wanting books of his own about legends. And Sasuke, being just five, settled on picture-books.)

The Uchiha head continued on his way, reflecting, as well, that Konoha didn't contain any local lore or legends that DIDN'T center around shinobi or wartimes; How droll. (And none of those legends were centered around Uchiha-clan shinobi; No, they weren't famous, only _infamous_.)

Itachi smiled to himself as he studied the tree, his voice softly commenting, "It's a beautiful tree.."

Sasuke, on the other hand, was forced to shut his eyes, as a sneeze suddenly shook his tiny frame. He sniffled afterwards, wiping at his nose; His brother laughed at him quietly, turning those wise, black eyes to him before he said, "Don't sneeze so hard that your soul comes out, brother."

Vaguely, Sasuke wondered if the spirit that lived in the tree was trying to get his soul, because the little boy had stared for so long. He blinked, his spiked locks standing up a bit further as he bristled from such a thought. The boy just shook his head, freeing himself from those kinds of ideas, and he rushed off with his brother as Itachi ran back to the house, wanting to check it out now that it was unlocked.

With the clear-paneled sliding doors pushed aside to open up the front hallway, Itachi found himself staring in from outside, more than pleased to explore this new home, as it was much larger than his old house. It might have been old, but he found that old houses had better character, due to their history, and that older houses seemed larger, and more firmly constructed. He stepped out of his sandals on the stair that led to the center doorway, and padded inside, barefooted. Standing in the doorway, he contemplated where he should even start his investigation of the area, looking to the left, then to the right, then straight ahead, which is where he caught sight of something small, and shiny.

This item was light brown, but shiny enough to catch the light of the sun coming amply into the windows. With a blink of dark eyes, just to be sure this object even was there, Itachi was convinced, and so he padded over, just to crouch down, momentarily observing this small item before picking it up, and holding it delicately between his thumb and forefinger. He studied it as it glistened in the sun, turning around to show the small treasure to Sasuke, the tinier boy now standing outside on the stair.

"Look, Sasuke, I found an acorn-Oh," the heir glanced over, noticing more of these little tree nuts forming a path down through one of the rooms, and out toward the back door; Intrigued, wondering where these acorns came from and how they got here, he followed the path, picking them up as he went.

"Hey, Niisan!" Sasuke called out to his brother, frantically throwing his sandals off as he watched Itachi vanish out of sight. He crawled up into the front hallway, having only slight trouble getting up the step, due to his small size. "Niisan, wait! I want an acorn!"

Sasuke did everything just as his older brother did- So, of course, he was entitled to his own acorn treasure, and looked about in a frenzy, immediately compelled to compete with Itachi. He found no acorns in sight, though, and was about to stamp his foot and pout about it, when something the size of a marble fell to the floor with a sharp and sudden racket. The boy spun round, and smiled in elation to find that another acorn had appeared simply to satisfy his desire to have his own. He questioned the appearance of the small nut only after lifting it into his tiny palm and then he exclaimed his joy at acorn-ownership.

A small head was tilted upward, ebony bangs falling back away from the child's face as his charcoal eyes searched the ceiling for an answer to where the acorn had come from.

As Sasuke searched, he neglected to notice when his father came up to him, carrying a large box. Fugaku shook the boy from his trance by speaking up to inform Sasuke that he was in the way; The young boy did move, but only far enough that his father could place the box he was carrying along with a pile of other boxes.

"Look, Tousan, look what I found!" Proudly, Sasuke opened his little hand for Fugaku to see, a large grin on his face, making it clear that he thought himself worthy of a prize for this find.

This incidence, however, stirred something inside the man as he looked at his child's tiny palm in possession of a shiny, newly fallen acorn. It reminded him of the two, small, delicate human beings that Fugaku had waited to welcome into the world, only to see them ushered into the other world immediately upon birth. It reminded him of their skin, a cold, pale-blue, and their big, black eyes, glazed, and deathly. And mostly, it reminded him of their hands, hands that were so small, each fitted just right with an acorn, before the babies were buried; The acorns acted as gifts for the Gods, so that the deities of the other world would take care of and look after the helpless babies.

Fugaku was able to bring his mind out of these melancholy thoughts when Itachi came padding around the corner, obviously hearing the conversation, and wanting to participate. "There are acorns all over the house."

The tinier Uchiha boy laughed, while pointing a finger upward, "Yeah, they came out of the ceiling!"

Choosing to shrug, the father offered his sons an explanation free of his depressing inner thoughts. "It's likely that this is the handy work of some squirrels- They probably found somewhere to get in, and built a nest upstairs. I've heard that squirrels move into houses in order to protect children, so maybe that's why they've come?"

(Then again, it could have also been a rat, which appear in times of death; That seemed more likely.)

Somehow, the head Uchiha found himself chuckling lowly, speaking one other detail before he turned to collect another box. "Whatever rodent it is making these messes, this is also probably why Momo-chan lives here."

Sasuke tilted his head, uttering a weak, 'huh?' before glancing over to his brother for an explanation. Itachi just shook his head with a secretive smile, and said, 'Nothing.' The younger boy was too excited at the notion of squirrels to be allowed to know that his adored feline-friend was killing them.

"I almost forgot-" The head Uchiha came back to the stair outside the hall to regard his eldest son; He held out his hand, granting Itachi the keychain, which held the keys to all the house locks. "Itachi, could you go open up the back door? The house is dusty, so we need to get it aired out, and I have boxes that need to go into the kitchen."

"Alright, Tousan." Itachi nodded to his father, complying without question, and he brushed his fingers against Sasuke's shoulder to beckon him to follow.

Both boys rushed to get their sandals back on their feet, Itachi finishing first, his every action quick and graceful. He bolted off around the house, with Sasuke tagging along, but falling behind, crying, "Hey, Niisan! Wait up, Nii!"

The elder glanced over his shoulder at his younger sibling who was following at a slower pace; He grinned a playful, rotten sort of grin, calling out, "Can't catch me, Sasuke!"

"Huh?" Sasuke just took Itachi's challenge as fair play, like always, more than willing to compete with the older male. "Yes I can!"

The game fell away quickly as the boys made it around to the backside of the house, almost passing by the back door which led to the kitchen. Sasuke hadn't quite caught Itachi, but as the older male turned around and rushed back toward the boy, Sasuke couldn't consider this a victory, and so, said nothing of it, forgetting the game.

"Here it is.." Itachi halted in front of the back door, lifting the big lock on the sliding panel into one thin hand, while he sought the correct key with his other. The key was jabbed somewhat violently into the lock, since it was rather old and a bit rusted at the hinges; With a few attempts to turn the key, the lock eventually clicked open, and was pulled off the door.

Smiling, the boy, content and unsuspecting, lifted thin fingers up to be delicately placed at the nook near the seam of the door, and tucking them into the dip, gave the door a hard push to the side, knowing it would be gritty on its tracks, since it was old.

As the door burst open, sunlight flared into the open space of the room, a bane to the darkness that had plagued the house for so many years, as well as something else unexpected. Both boys stood in the doorway, shivering in shock as a high-pitched screech was elicited from the shadows inside the house, and they rushed visibly away to seek a hiding place. The huge mob of blackness separated into scampering, furry, black blobs, that somehow resembled the bottom of a mop, their tendrils wavering frantically about as they darted out of sight, squealing in horror all the way.

When finally these creatures had vanished, Itachi lifted his hand to cover his mouth and nose from the musty stench of disuse that wafted out from inside the old kitchen. The movement from the elder male somehow assured Sasuke that he could move as well, without expecting a shadow-creature to emerge and attack him.

He turned to look up at his brother, his dark, doe eyes shimmering with sudden tears that had appeared in his moment of fright. His eyes silently bid Itachi to give him answers, to take away his fear, yet Itachi was just as paralyzed as he turned his head in Sasuke's direction.

It was in this still moment of silence that the brother's stared at one another, both quietly asking 'What was that?', though neither had an answer.

::

[Summer]

Fugaku had just reached the house again after going to fetch another box, about to round the patio toward the front hallway to place this particular package there.

He hadn't quite passed by the patio when he noticed one large, fat rat scampering round the corner, squeaking in mad fury that the quietude of this place had been disturbed.

He scowled as the filthy creature nearly clashed with his sandaled foot, averting its path to avoid the human it hadn't expected to run into. This led the rat right over toward the garden, where opportunistic green eyes had been watching the entire scene play out, and the cat Sasuke called 'Momo' pounced as quick as lightning, despite her age, snatching up the dirty rodent.

The Uchiha head barely registered the rat screaming with its final breath as it was punctured by the feline's fangs, nor the flicking of the gray tabby's long tail in the monkey grass; He was hearing nothing but his own doubts, playing in his mind, feeling suddenly that this place was too full of bad omens, and that maybe it had been an unwise choice to come to this place, after all.

::

..tbc..

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	4. Chapter 4

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_/..Hey, let's go, hey, let's go, I'm happy as can be. Let's go walking you and me../_

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[Summer]

Both boys were standing in silence, two pairs of eyes gazing into the dim, dusty area of the kitchen, where small, screeching, furry creatures had scampered off into cracks between the walls and floor.

The younger male scooted himself over closer to his older brother, clinging to Itachi as he partially hid behind him, peeping from around the older boy's thin frame. His big, innocent eyes were looking about, no longer catching sight of any movement, though he was no less startled, and certainly too nervous to consider going into the room without his Niisan in front of him.

Itachi, who was just as offended by the smell of the musty room as the unexplainable movement from unidentifiable creatures, kept one hand over his nose, while reaching back to grab his little brother's tiny hand in his own. "Come on, Sasuke.."

Peeking out from behind Itachi a bit more, the younger male gave the room another emergency glance to make sure it was safe, then he nodded his head to his brother, stepping out from behind him, though he kept a tight hold on his hand. "Okay, Nii.."

The Uchiha heir straightened himself, keeping his head up, his shoulders back, and his chest out, as if it could make him appear larger and more threatening to whatever strange creature he was doomed to encounter. His sandals were kicked from his feet, and he continued forward lightly, his feet making the softest patters on the wood floor.

At the older boy's side, Sasuke carefully mimicked his brother's posture, though the small boy walked with his legs spaced far apart, similar to a Sumo-wrestler; This was his idea of a threatening stance, and as Itachi's eyes flickered down to regard Sasuke for a nervous second, he couldn't help but laugh softly under his breath at how comical Sasuke looked.

The tinier boy crouched down, examining the space beneath the tiled counters and wooden cutting-counter, just in case something was hiding there. Itachi hesitantly allowed his brother's hand to slip from his own, continuing along while Sasuke looked.

The area below the counters was black with soot, and the counters themselves were stained, but Sasuke found nothing suspicious below. He was still nervous, so he quickly finished investigating and rushed back to his brother's side as Itachi wandered near to peek over a half-wall.

A tiny hand lifted to tangle itself in the loose shirt Itachi wore, which was emblazoned with their family crest on the back. In this manner, Sasuke kept a hold on his brother as Itachi crept around the wall to stand upon a couple of stairs that led into the next room.

The older male looked around the corner first, followed seconds later by curious Sasuke; Neither boy found anything strange as they observed what appeared to be a washroom with two old fashioned Goemonburo-bathtubs, which were dusty from a lack of use.

A sudden noise startled the two boys, and they both gasped softly before sharply turning their heads to the source of this disturbance, it being the gritty sound of the old, sliding kitchen door being opened. From the door appeared a person, rather than a monster, and the two young boys calmed as their father walked into the room carrying the old cat.

Sasuke perked up, cheerfully noticing the old cat who was resting calmly in his father's hands, and he took it upon himself to declare his happiness at seeing the cat again. "Tousan has Momo-chan!"

With an attention-span that was more focused than his young sibling's, Itachi looked up at his father with a serious expression, his bright, black eyes shining with intelligence. "Tousan, we saw something move in here when we opened the door."

The eldest male wore a frown on his face, worried at the notion of there being rats living in the house; His frown only deepened at his son's words, though he responded in a neutral tone, questioning Itachi about what he saw. "Was it a rat?"

Sasuke scampered over to his father, standing on his tiptoes in order to pat the cat, who reacted to the child's hands by batting playfully. The elder sibling gave a shrug to his father, disappointed and somehow spooked that he had absolutely no idea what those things were. "I don't think so. They looked more like furry black octopuses because they had long, squirming tentacles, and they were screaming as they ran away."

Fugaku quirked a brow at his son's explanation, not analyzing it. He wouldn't conclude that Itachi imagined this occurrence, nor that his eldest son was lying, but.. He wasn't very certain about what Itachi was telling him. The man bent over, letting the cat down to walk about the floor. "Let Momo have a look."

As the cat was set down, the old creature gave the dusty floor a sniff, examining. She shook the dust from her whiskers in subtle annoyance, but still arched into the small hands of the child who was showering her with pats.

Unsure of the cat's investigative abilities, Fugaku also began to look around himself, sharp eyes scanning the floor for any scampering pests. Surely, if there were any rats, they had hidden themselves well enough by now, so he walked briskly over to the tubs, removing the covers to look inside. He was surprised to find the insides decently clean, despite the disuse of the old house.

Glancing over his shoulder, the Uchiha head noticed that his sons were watching him expectantly, as if they were waiting for an explanation to the abnormal occurrence they had witnessed. It seemed silly that they were both so shaken, and even though Itachi stuck to his shinobi training, keeping his emotions concealed, Fugaku could tell that his eldest son was still nervous, somehow. (No, Itachi was hiding his feelings less than usual; That's why he seemed easier to read. But he probably wasn't frightened. Maybe just confused, his bright mind seeking to understand things.)

"There's no reason for the two of you to worry." Their father spoke in a soft, neutral tone, actually letting himself smile slightly as he straightened, and sidestepped over to open the window, hoping to air the room out. It was actually.. Kind of funny catching his son's fretting, outside their normal comfort zone. Life in Konoha was always the same, every single day, and it had made the entire family a bit complacent.

"You mean those things don't eat people or kitties, Tousan?" Sasuke spoke up in question, his naive mind always tending to assume that things are only dangerous if they might potentially eat you.

"Well.. I don't think that those strange, black things the two of you saw were alive." Fugaku explained.

"They weren't..alive?" The eldest son narrowed his eyes suspiciously, letting his head tilt to the side inquisitively, a bit unsure of his father's words. His first thought at hearing the creatures be mentioned as 'not alive' was that they could be some sort of spirit, and as much as legends interested him, he regarded it all as strictly fictional. "Are you trying to trick us, Tousan?"

The man chuckled softly at his son's skeptical nature before speaking up to explain. "No. Itachi, you should already understand this; Those things were an illusion. Makkuro kurosuke.*"

"Makkuro..." Itachi spoke slowly, pausing.

Sasuke then finished the repetition. "..Kurosuke?"

"That's right." The father nodded his head to his sons as he fought with the old window; It was so ancient that it hardly slid well on its tracks any longer and it had to be given a forceful shove. "You see, sometimes when you walk into a dark room from a brightly lit place, and vice-versa, your eyes have to adjust rapidly, which causes you to see a rush of black spots; An illusion."

The older boy nodded his head, a small smile upon his rosy lips as his eyes shimmered with understanding. "I get it."

Itachi's smile faded away only seconds after he verbally acknowledged his father's words, and he glanced down at Sasuke, who was busily laughing and chanting 'Come out, now! Come out, now!' in order to summon the makuro-kurosuke, since the sun from the window was now beaming strongly into the previously dark room.

(One thing still bothered Itachi, though he didn't mention it, not wanting to scare Sasuke all over again; Optical illusions didn't make noises.)

The entire family glanced back toward the kitchen curiously, but somewhat startled, when a loud yowl escaped from the old cat, and she went wildly tearing from the room, her fur bristled. They all knew that something had obviously surprised her, but none of them questioned it aloud.

"Okay.." The eldest man's stern voice broke the silence first. "We should stop dawdling and get to work.. Itachi, do you think you can find the stairs that lead to the attic? We need to open the upstairs windows too, so it can air out up there.."

"Yes, Tousan." Hurriedly, Itachi jumped to his feet and bolted through the door his father had come in from, rushing down the hall. He was honestly relieved to be out of the room where he saw those creatures, but he had also decided that he wouldn't let it worry him. Just before they moved into this house, the young heir had completed his Chuunin exam, and so, those tiny black things, no matter what they were, couldn't possibly be as dangerous as anything Itachi had encountered in the past.

Actually, as he ran down the hall, he considered to himself that now would be an important period in his life- This was a time where he would be redefining the meaning of 'danger' in his mind. Traditionally, he lived in a world where 'danger' was produced when something threatened Konoha, and the opposing factor was the protection of Konoha.

But how could shinobi ever live in safety if they constantly fought to maintain peace? Itachi was at an age where he questioned everything and this sounded strangely counter-productive.

The boy shook these thoughts from his head. All he could do now was learn through experience whether life outside of Konoha's walls was actually more safe or less. Only time could offer the young boy, full of questions, the answers to these riddles.

"Hey, Niisan! Wait!" Sasuke called out to Itachi, short legs unable to keep pace with the older boy.

Spinning on heel, the older boy turned a half-circle, casting a brotherly smile back in Sasuke's direction. "Come on. We can check for more of those 'things' upstairs."

Those 'things' had now presented the young shinobi with a challenge. To Sasuke, they could remain a fictional, childish perception of what their father had referred to them as- Just something you see when darkness and light shift from one extreme to the other, like a benevolent ghost. (Since children couldn't fully differentiate the idea of an illusion from something that was alive, but different from normal.)

Itachi knew those things were no illusion, and beyond his initial nervousness, he could feel the surge of adrenaline kicking in. He was no longer a ninja, but he still clung to the idea of going on 'missions' to give himself purpose. Now, he was on a mission to discover the true nature of those black creatures, and what the real meaning of 'danger' was.

"Yeaah! Makkuro Kurosuke!" The smaller boy chanted in a triumphant voice, elated at the idea of being on a mission with his Niisan, and intrigued with the notion of chasing after those elusive, but harmless makkuro kurosuke.

Sasuke followed after his older brother as Itachi bolted down the halls, peeking in doors along the way, declaring, "The stairs aren't here."

The older male opened up what he found to be a closet. He glanced inside, gave his head a shake, then shut the door back, just to have Sasuke follow behind him, and repeat this action. Of course, the younger male exaggerated his mimicry of Itachi, flinging the door open wide, and he stuck his head right inside to make certain that there were definitely no stairs, before he cried out, "No stairs in here!", and slammed the door shut with a mischievous grin.

The two sets of feet pattered down the hall, Itachi's footsteps rapid and soft, while Sasuke stamped loudly with the entirety of his weight on each foot. They maintained a short game of follow-the-leader, Sasuke copying his older brother all the way, until the entire chase came to an end when the older of the pair opened up a door to finally find the stairs.

"Hey, come here, Sasuke, I found the stairs!" The older boy called to his brother, giving Sasuke time to catch up. As the smaller boy appeared at the end of the hall, Itachi smiled and batted his hand to rush Sasuke along, so excited that he was shifting about on his toes.

"Huh?" Sasuke exclaimed as he rushed up to Itachi's side, and clung affectionately. "Let me see.."

Both boys stared up into the lightless reaches of the steep flight of stairs; From the landing, until about half-way up, the two could observe how tall each step was, and how there was only enough room on each stair for a person to balance on the front of their foot while they climbed. (For kids it wasn't so hazardous, unless they were just clumsy.)

Still, it looked rather intimidating, since the mountain of stairs vanished into complete darkness. The older boy just grinned to himself with a shrug, inwardly brushing it off as not being a real challenge so much as.. An adventure. (Again, he had acquired the level of chuunin in Konoha, so what was this to him?)

Just as he had convinced himself inwardly that nothing was up there, a sharp sound caught the older boy's ear, and he gazed intensely up into the darkness, watching for the source of this noise as it made a 'tic-tic-tic' sound, coming ever nearer.

"Look!" Itachi whispered, a tiny object coming into view as it toppled down the stairs with steady momentum. He recognized this tiny item and its brown shine as the light glinted off of it, once it was within reach. "It's an acorn.."

The elder boy, with skillful dexterity, snagged the tiny nut from the air mid-bounce, and he looked down at it as it rested in his palm. Sasuke did the same, examining the object that his brother held, while whispering in a tone that the boy was actively trying to make 'spooky', "Makkuro kurosuke must like acorns."

"Here." Closing his hand around the tiny acorn, Itachi held it out to Sasuke, who opened both hands and cupped them together to receive the gift. Giggling, he shoved it into one of his short-pockets. "Thanks, Nii!" (Itachi didn't know, but Sasuke was still playing the 'collect more acorns than Itachi' game.)

Turning their matching charcoal optics back to the upstair abyss, the boys took deep breaths, then simultaneously unleashed a chant that would startle away any threat that could be waiting beyond the darkness. "Come out, come out, or we'll tear your eyeballs out!"*

Faintly, the brothers could hear some sort of rustle from the darkness above; Itachi, more than ever, was sure that those things had been no illusion, but as he turned to his younger brother, who was looking somewhat hesitant about going into the attic, Itachi offered a confident grin and a nod, which gave Sasuke reassurance. A gentle hand came to pat Sasuke on the head before Itachi fearlessly headed up into the dark. "It's alright, Sasuke. You can stay behind me."

For a moment, Sasuke considered not going at all; But then he imagined the makuro kurosuke ganging up on his Niisan and eating him, so he bolted up after Itachi, just to help him in case the little creatures attacked. It was only halfway up that he remembered how Itachi was already a very skilled fighter, while he, himself, knew nothing apart from basic skills. Because of this, Sasuke decided it was best stay right under Itachi as they climbed the stairs.

While Itachi stalked up in a normal, albeit careful-footed fashion, Sasuke climbed up on all fours for better balance, the old wood creaking beneath the boy's weight with each step, completely throwing off his sibling's creeping-shinobi approach. Sasuke watched Itachi carefully as they reached the top of the stairs. The older boy poked his head up into the attic to look around, standing elevated on his toes while the younger male crouched beneath him, waiting to be told it was safe.

Patience was not one of Sasuke's better traits, however, and while Itachi was giving the entire attic a careful and calculated examination for any malevolent life form, the younger boy was satisfied enough in seeing that Itachi's head hadn't been mauled within the first five seconds of him sticking it up into the attic. Like some naive baby rabbit, Sasuke popped his head up into the attic as well, wanting to preoccupy his mind with something that he perceived as both dangerous and harmless. (His natural reaction to the unknown was fear, yet his mind wasn't matured enough to grasp to concept of death or something's potential to end his young life.)

"Makuro Kurosuke!" The child screamed out in his best 'terrifying' voice, the sound of his intent to triumphantly explore this spooky attic his most clever tactic for scaring away the tentacled apparitions.

A hand was quickly clapped over Sasuke's mouth, the older male feeling that this noisiness was spoiling the potential for an ambush, though Itachi couldn't bother admitting that his brother's loud voice had actually startled him, if just a bit; He smiled warmly to Sasuke but gave the younger boy a firm shake of his head.

Perceptive eyes gave the dark attic yet another careful glance, Itachi finding that he didn't see anything like what had been scurrying about in the kitchen before. In a reassuring but careful whisper, the elder boy addressed the only person at his side. "Don't worry, Sasuke.. There's nothing here."

This statement had been meant, realistically, to calm Sasuke but it was also for Itachi to calm himself. Sure, he had faced monstrously overgrown wild animals and rival shinobi in a desolate and dangerous forest, but this was something else, something a little more.. Unknown. Unknown dangers were the gravest sort. (All else was just.. A game of pretend for pretend ninja.)

A soft whish of noise, like wind blowing gently through a cracked door, came to furiously contradict the shinobi-boy's words. The heir was unsure what his hopes where; Whether or not he hoped to find something abnormal, he wasn't certain. He had steadily allowed himself to grow closer to believing in what his father had told him before- That this was all the product of a childish, overactive imagination, yet the noise of something crawling along the floor, up the walls, and out of sight before the two boys could turn their heads to look, was more difficult to deny after a second occurrence.

The two boys caught sight of a smoky black puff of soot, the only remnant of something else's presence as it disappeared into a crack. Both pairs of eyes watched the small, charcoal cloud as it twirled in the air, then dissipated, neither boy willing to move a single muscle until the dust was no longer visible.

In a dash, Itachi rushed from the top of the stairs, across the unknown plane that was the dirty, forgotten attic floorboards, now determined to fling open the window to let in the glare of sunlight that would certainly banish those creatures.

Following, panicked at the thought of not being glued to his older brother's side, Sasuke also jumped up from the landing, his tiny body bouncing easily with his desperate little leaps. His slight frame also spun round easily, his little feet pattering against the floor, twisting him around as something caught his eye, and a louder whoosh of noise managed to meet his ears over the rattling sound of Itachi struggling with the old window-locks.

Sasuke's eyes were certainly nowhere near his brother's level of elevated vision or perception, but even through the dismal darkness, the youngest boy knew he could see a furry cloud of dirty ebony moving with squirming limbs against the walls and even floating through the air with ease. He could see a hoard of those same creatures spiraling here and there about the room, searching for the most suitable hiding place, somehow aware that their seclusion had been disrupted, and that soon the sun would beam in to make them shriek.

It was a distant or unknown instinct that Sasuke had certainly never tapped into before that caused him to keep his eyes on the faintly distinguishable cloud. He took a few small steps backward, yet he dared not let the swarm of black apparitions escape his gaze, something in the back of his mind convincing him that if he lost track of the movement, makuro kurosuke would come to take him (and maybe Itachi, too.) away.

"There!" Itachi exclaimed, though cooly and with confidence, as he whipped open the shutters over the window, which illuminated the room in what seemed like a vibrant, white flash. Momentarily, neither Uchiha boy could see anything in the sudden presence of beaming sunlight, both of them blinking in order to will their eyes to work.

Not one single movement became apparent in the tightly enclosed space, those creatures having completely vanished. Again Itachi reassured himself that this entire happening was the result of his imagination and inwardly he was somehow disappointed with himself. His pale-pinkish lips straightened into a neutral expression that was still, somehow, a grimace, and he searched the room with observant eyes, though he expected to gain nothing from this particular observation. He hypothesized that maybe, because he had allowed his shinobi training to be left somewhere behind himself, the sharpened edge of his sense was dulling, and the line between reality and fantasy was blurring. (Then again, life in Konoha was one big fantasy, in it's own way, so maybe Itachi never knew the difference, anyway?)

The smaller boy, however, had his eyes trained on a crack in the boards of the raw, wooden walls. He knew that he had seen those things dancing mockingly about in the dark, and he had watched them all vanish into a new hiding place only seconds before the light was allowed in, unhindered.

Leaving Sasuke to play pretend with the Makkuro Kurosuke, the older boy turned his attention away from this game that consisted of searching for oddities that he was still unsure where real or fake, alive or just illusions. Itachi would not shrug off anything he had reason to believe in, but for now, he considered that playing with ideas that skirted the borderline of fiction tickled his fancy, and he grinned to himself, before turning to look out the attic window, spying his father outside, carrying more boxes into the house.

Here, the heir decided to indulge his imagination, taking his last sweet gulp from the goblet of childhood, inviting his father into this intriguing game. (Maybe Fugaku wanted to relive his childhood too, who knows?)

"Tousan!" The Uchiha heir called to his father below, catching sight of the older man's sharp, black eyes as they lifted to greet the young face in the open attic window. "I think there really -is- something living in the attic."

With Itachi being a highly trained shinobi, Fugaku immediately had difficulty picking up whether his son was being serious. For a moment, he was dumbfounded, but then he remembered that this was no big deal, and in fact, a large part of the reason for the families relocation; He would let the boy have his fun.

Trying his best to appear serious, hiding a trickle of amusement all the while, Fugaku raised his voice loudly enough for his son to hear from the attic window, striking that same, stern, disciplinary tone that he had long perfected. "Itachi, if you're trying to scare your brother, keep in mind that -you'll- be the one sharing your bed with Sasuke tonight."

Finally, a small smile was allowed to be shown on the Uchiha head's face, a reflection of the rare smile that he watched crawl across Itachi's lips in reaction to his father's threats. (It was like a ray of sunshine, Itachi's smile.)

"Why don't you come downstairs now and help with the boxes, Itachi?" Like that, Fugaku carried on toward the house with his own armful of luggage.

The older boy nodded his head, a good, obedient son, still at the age that he aimed only to please, and he bolted down the attic stairs to do as he was told. This time, he didn't notice that he left a stock-still Sasuke behind.

Sasuke was building steadily on his courage as he stood as still and quiet as a statue, sizing up his otherworldly enemy, and analyzing makuro kurosuke's hiding place. Everything else around the younger Uchiha had faded into nothing, his full attention glued to the crevice between those wooden boards of the attic wall. The child found that if he kept his eyes locked onto that crack, every now and again, he could see a shift of furry blackness moving about beneath the surface.

With an unbreakable resolve, young Sasuke had decided that for today, he would be the shinobi prodigy of the family, and out-ninja his brother once and for all! His courage had been boosted to astronomical levels now that the vibrant sunlight from outside was pouring in, taking away the spookiness of the tiny room. His mission now was to pry one of those makuro kurosuke from its hiding place, and take it prisoner. He could see this all in his head; He would firmly grasp the squirming, squealing creature, its tentacles wiggling uselessly between the iron clutch of the young boy's tiny fingers, then Sasuke would carry it downstairs, and present it to his Niisan and Tousan. After that, they would both recognize his greatness, and offer endless verbal praise.

Despite himself, Sasuke gulped as he finally began to tip-toe over toward the hole where those makuro kurosuke were hiding. He was steady, for the most part, giving the crack one last inquisitive stare before lifting his hand, and tentatively bringing one single finger to examine the depth of the hole, more than sure that he was stronger and smarter than these little blobs, and that no bad could happen.

It came as a surprise that elicited a sharp squeal from Sasuke when an entire hoard of the ebony-furred, tentacled creatures whizzed from the hole in a mad, terrified dash to escape the intruding child's finger.

Like a cloud of the blackest soot, the swarm poured out, darting up and over, some flitting around Sasuke's head, brushing his cheek with cold appendages that felt like spider's feet. The cloud was so large and thick that not even the wall was visible from behind the stream of pitch-black. This cloud, however, unlike smoke or dirt, rushed by with squeals and squeaks, all part of the chorus to a constant 'whishing', akin to the sound of ocean waves stretching furiously out across the shore during a storm.

Fright shot through the child like an electric current, prickling his pale skin in chilling goosebumps, and bristling the messy spikes in his hair even further, so that they stood on end, just like the fur of a startled kitten. It all happened so utterly fast, however, that before Sasuke could even consider running away, the entire hoard had spiraled off to some other, more secure hiding place, and dissipated.

Big, nervous, onyx eyes turned to look up toward one of the cracked corners in the ceiling where the swarm had crawled off to. Through the watery tears that had stung at the corners of the child's large eyes, Sasuke watched in hopes that makuro kurosuke was gone for good.

For the most part, every little black creature had, indeed, disappeared; The one exception to this was the last in line to crawl into the new hiding-hole. It appeared that the crack was full to the point that it couldn't occupy even one last sprite, and though this one, small creature pressed its tentacles into the hole to make room for itself, it simply could not fit. As the sunlight sapped its strength, this single makuro kurosuke became faint, and began to slip from the opening in the ceiling, coming to flutter downward, though it attempted to propel itself back to its nest with weak beats of it's squirming limbs.

Slowly falling down toward the floor, the last of the furry, black swarm spiraled into reach of young Sasuke, serving to remind him of the mission he had in mind previous to the scare. Suddenly, the kind of malicious grin that only ever appeared on the face of a rotten kid, sprawled right over Sasuke's rounded visage; Utterly vengeful toward the makuro kurosuke for spooking him, the young Uchiha intended to viciously capture the one weakened creature, and show it off to his Niisan and Tousan.

Sasuke slowly drew his arms outward, stretching his hands and fingers out as he waited for just the right moment, when the tiny, fluttering creature was in the perfect position, and then, 'Smack!'.

The boy clapped his hands together tightly, capturing makuro kurosuke between his tiny palms with the smallest puff of blackened smoke. Seconds after, now full of elation at his victory, the child yelled out for anybody within earshot to hear, (Though, he was directing his words toward his brother.) only prior to twirling round toward the stairs and bolting off to show his Niisan his wonderful prize.

"Niisan! Niisan! I caught one!"

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[Summer]

After carefully waddling down the stairs, his eyes trained on his hands in order to make sure his prize didn't escape, the youngest Uchiha son went about the task of trotting at a merry pace down the halls, hoping to find his older brother, all while not looking where he was going.

Calling out, full of child-like glee, Sasuke's sweet voice pronounced, "Niisan!, Niisan!", over and over, knowing in his swelling, little heart that his brother wouldn't fail to hear him calling, and come to see what amazing thing had Sasuke in such state of joy.

The focus, and rush of this entire situation only further blinded Sasuke to everything in his path, and amidst one of his 'Niisan!' calls, he found himself bumping squarely into an unknown, but soft object that he wasn't aware of previous to now.

This object actually turned out to be the rear-end of a person, and with a curious, "huh?", the five-year-old boy lifted his head up to discover that this bottom also did not belong to his brother, but to a stranger.

"Eh?", was the only word (or, sound) that the stranger uttered as they turned to study the small being that had crashed headlong into them.

Sasuke remained in place long enough for his curious mind to take in the face that was thrust down near his as the stranger looked upon him. This face was not one that Sasuke immediately recognized, nor was it one that he was particularly used to; This person, a woman, so the boy was thinking, wore a mask of rough, weathered skin traced with the deep lines that mapped the emotions of her numerous years, her happiness, her sadness, her times of stern reserve. This skin was also of a peculiar, grayish-cream sort of pallor, dappled with dark spots, making it obvious that this woman had been damaged by the sun, living a life of outdoor work, despite her fair-skin's abhorrence for exposure. Her cheeks had sagged horribly, leaving the woman with deep crevices that curved along beneath her eyes, and skin that hung along the sides of her jaw. The thin skin above her eyes was just as loose, so much so that it laid atop her thinned, silvered lashes, giving her likely once-sharp eyes a misshapen look, though not hiding the blueish ring around her otherwise inky irises, her dimming vision completely obvious. (Hence, why she was looking at Sasuke so closely.) But what stuck out most obviously was a long scar that began in the center of the old woman's forehead, and traced downward along the right side of her nose, barely missing her eye, and ending just at the top of her cheek. (It was uncertain as to whether this was caused by some accident, or that it indicated that the old woman had maybe been a shinobi, in her youth.)

Not only was this hunched woman a stranger, but she was also old, which had some deeply rooted tendency to terrify children. (Somewhere, in the back of a child's mind, old people were closely tied with the concept of death, which was frightening.) So, of course, with a squeak of nervous fear, Sasuke bolted off in the other direction.

However, since he didn't yet fully know his way around the new house, Sasuke ended up coming back to the same area, only from a different direction, almost plowing right into the old woman again, who simply watched the silly child in amusement.

Yet again, Sasuke squeaked, and ran away, galloping with loudly pattering, naked feet down the hall, and out a door, at last coming to stand by Itachi, who had been about to politely introduce himself to the visitor, when Sasuke interrupted. The older male turned around to face his nervous brother, but Sasuke ran in an insistent circle around his sibling, needing to be hidden behind him, but also on the opposite side from the old lady.

The woman didn't appear to take the child's fear with any offense, laughing a soft and merry kind of chuckle before turning to address the head Uchiha at her side. "Ah, a couple of clever sons you have here."

Surely, she was speaking of Sasuke's momentary fear of strangers, which was wise in the case of young children, especially when they came from shinobi villages. Fugaku, on the other hand, was not so amused, and cleared his throat before righting his youngest son's reaction. "Sasuke, there's no reason to be so shy. Mind your manners. This is Uchiha Nani, Shisui's grandmother, she owns the farm next door."

Batting her hand at Fugaku with grinning, wrinkled lips, the old woman insisted in a sweet, grand-motherly tone that they simply refer to her as 'Obaasan'.

Polite as ever, a product of his formal family's grooming, the young Uchiha heir bowed with immense respect for his elder before he finally introduced himself. "I'm Itachi, and this is my younger brother, Sasuke."

Despite his shyness, and with his hands still stuck together tightly as if they had been glued, Sasuke managed to bow politely as well.

"Pleased to meet you both." The older woman gave the children a nod.

From here, the older woman turned back to regard the Uchiha head, insisting that she heard that they had planned to move into this house, but she hadn't a clue that they hoped to move in so quickly, or else she would have already come over to clean up. Then, she went on to say that she had been so busy in the fields lately that she had acquired a tendency to lose track of time.

While the adults chatted, the youngest boy's attention drifted back to the important matter at hand; Or rather, in his hands. His dark eyes blinked, looking down at his two tiny hands as he cracked his palms apart just slightly to look in at the creature he'd captured. When he wasn't quite able to get a good look at the makuro kurosuke through the small hole, he opened his hands wider, then finally pulled them completely apart with an offended gasp, finding that he held nothing within but charcoal-colored soot.

Completely baffled as to how makuro kurosuke could have gotten away, Sasuke blinked again, looking between his right hand and his left hand, buried in thought. He was severely disappointed, because now he had nothing to show off to his Niisan!

Itachi, who was unaware of Sasuke's battle with the black creatures in the attic, finally allowed his own wandering attention to drift away from the conversation of the adults, only to notice out of the corner of his eyes that Sasuke's hands were covered in filth. The sheer amount of darkness naturally drew in the heir's vision, and he turned to regard Sasuke, looking firstly at how the younger male's hands were stained black. He, too, found himself gasping at the sight, trying to hide his shock beneath a quiet whisper as he questioned his brother. "Sasuke, how did your hands get so dirty?"

Sorrowfully, the tiny boy looked up at his brother with a pout, whining an answer and hoping that his Itachi-Niisan wouldn't be cross with him. "I caught a makuro kurosuke in my hands, but he got away."

As Sasuke spoke, Itachi's eyes trailed along behind him, noticing as well that his brother had tracked the same black soot all over the floor. "Look at the mess you made!"

"Huh?" Sasuke looked down, lifting up his tiny feet to acknowledge that the bottoms were coated in dirt. "Oh no."

"Sasuke, did you say you _caught_ a makuro kurosuke?" The elder Uchiha boy was busily trying to figure out how in the world his sibling could capture something that was supposed to be an illusion. Perhaps he was lying? This thought was interrupted, however, when Itachi discovered that there was a path of larger footprints accompanying the smaller ones, and he lifted one of his own feet to see that they were also filthy. "Oh, mine are black, too."

"Eh?", the old woman chimed as she discovered the plight of the two children in her midst. She padded slowly over to the boys to closely observe the mess, being granted a better look at little Sasuke's dirtied palms, and Itachi's blackened feet. "..Oh my.."

"Hm? What is it?" Uchiha Fugaku questioned the concerned tone struck by the older woman, and also approached in order to observe.

"It appears that you have an infestation of _keukegen._" The woman nodded her head wisely as she spoke her conclusion.

Itachi, completely ignorant of what the older woman was speaking of, tilted his head in a puzzled sort of way, though his dark eyes glimmered with questioning intelligence, hungry for knowledge. "Keukegen? Are you talking about those furry, black things with the tentacles that crawl around in the dark, and live in the attic?"

The wise old woman nodded her head to the child's description. "Yes, that is what they look like. The Keukegen are sprites that live in dark, undisturbed places like old, empty houses, or unclean homes. They typically build their nests in abandoned places and turn things into black soot, but when they come to live alongside humans, they'll feed off of your health and make you very ill. It's possible that they are lingering here from the last lady who lived in the house; She was a lady that had fallen ill with tuberculosis. I nursed her for a few years until she, well.. Anyway, Uchiha Fugaku-san, you're very lucky that you're children here can see the keukegen. At the very least, we're aware of their presence."

"So.." Itachi, after listening closely to the woman's story, had one specific question. "Obaasan, if they're so bad, then how do we get rid of them?"

"I was sickly as a little girl, so I used to see them very often." The old woman nodded her head in keen remembrance. "So I know exactly what to do; The first way to make the keukegen uncomfortable is for us all to put a big smile on our faces!"

One wrinkled hand, it's skin so pale and thin that the veins beneath the surface were almost entirely visible, reached with rough working fingers to touch the young heir's cheek, pinching it so that his lips were tugged into something that resembled a smile.

"Smile, Itachi-kun!" The old woman chuckled at the embarrassed boy, shaking her head at how serious young Itachi was. (Damn ninja training.) Sasuke quickly joined in, laughing softly as his Niisan was teased.

The elderly lady did not stop at Itachi, however, turning slowly around to regard the head Uchiha. She reached out to him, and pinched his cheek as if he were a child, just as much as his eldest son. "You should smile more, too, Fugaku-kun."

The laughter somehow escalated at this, the old woman chuckling a bit more loudly at Fugaku's grouchy expression as his cheek was pinched, while Sasuke almost doubled over without any regard, and Itachi attempted to hide his grin beneath thin fingers.

Deciding that she had teased enough for one day, the older woman's hand dropped to her side, and she turned back to the children. "Now, the second thing we have to do to make this house unfit for the keukegen to live in, is to clean it up so that it shines."

Agreeing to these terms, and willing to lend a hand in whatever way they could, both Uchiha boys nodded kindly to the woman.

The elder of the two brothers, though, stole one quick glance down at his sibling's hands, more specifically, the black stain that had tainted his tiny palms. These keukegen, as Obaasan called them, would make the family ill if they were allowed to remain. Even if it was just a story, Itachi was still questioning the presence of these creatures, chilled at the destruction they could cause if they weren't exterminated.

:: ::

..tbc..

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*; _Makuro Kurosuke_- This is what the father in the original 'Totoro' explained the black specks as. It translates into 'Pitch Black Blackie', and is exactly what Fugaku explained, an optical illusion that occurs with sudden changes in lighting.

*; _"Come out, come out, or we'll tear your eyeballs out."_- Another from the original Japanese 'Totoro', this was replaced with something closer to 'Let the sprites go away right now', I THINK, because it sounded a bit too grisly for North American kids. However, I kept this because I thought it sounded so appropriate for Uchiha kids to say. ;)

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_As a reminder, please be sure to visit the voting poll at the top of my profile. Your votes will decide which fanfiction I update most often, and I recently reset the poll, so now everybody may recast their votes. =)_

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	5. Chapter 5

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[Summer]

The kitchen wasn't nearly as grimy or unlivable as it had been when the young ex-chuunin first opened up the back door to reveal the room to sunlight. He would have believed that this old kitchen hadn't seen the light of day in years, then, though now it was remarkably warm and welcoming.

The open door and windows let the mildly warm sun of mid-summer pour in, lighting the entire area, and clearing it of the stagnant, musty air. Of course, while Fugaku and the helpful neighbor worked steadily to carry in all of the boxes, Itachi had set to helping Obaasan dust and sweep out the entire house. (He swore that his nose had turned red from all the rubbing and irritation that the dust caused.)

Obaasan reassured the quiet eleven-year-old as they worked that all the Keukegen were probably chattering among themselves in the attic, making plans to vacate the house as their dusty nests were destroyed. This brought a soft, secretive smile to Itachi's pale lips.

Once the entire house had been cleared of it's grayish blanket of disuse, and most of the boxes had been brought in, Obaasan decidedly unpacked the important kitchen utensils and dishes, knowing that the family would need them all washed and functional before dinner time. As the old woman dutifully located and unpacked the marked boxes, small, cheerful Sasuke carefully carried things into the kitchen, where his older brother had prepared a sink full of water to wash everything. It was a perfect chain of action, with even Sasuke turning out to be a helpful link, despite his age; he didn't even break a single thing!

Now, Itachi had finished with the task of washing the kitchen items, and was gazing with an immense sense of fulfillment at his completed work. Everything was put away in an orderly fashion, while the floors, counters, and shelves were tidy and clean.

The back of the young boy's hand lifted to brush back the ebony tendrils of his bangs, so that he could wipe at his dampened forehead. Not only was he enjoying the results of his job-well-done, but he was also taking a short break, catching his breath, unaware that he had been working hard enough to be out of breath in the first place.

(He wondered if the keukegen had become vengeful, and were feeding off of his lifeforce, perhaps?)

Ducking down slowly, cautiously, the young male traced his dark eyes downward to peek under the counters, looking to see if he caught sight of any keukegen scampering beneath. He found that it was incredibly dark below, though he had cleaned underneath, but even with that reassurance, he felt a tremor of nervousness, sure that his mind would trick him into believing he could see something moving that wasn't actually there.

Itachi was startled into standing quickly upright when the patter of rushed footsteps rang from just outside the door, echoing loudly and very suddenly, into the small room. Sharp eyes flashed over to the doorway, the chuunin keenly embarrassed that he had allowed himself to be surprised in such a manner, but these feelings of shame washed themselves away in a rush of curiosity when Itachi discovered a figure in the door that he didn't immediately recognize.

The young boy blinked as he studied the grouchy face of the other boy in the doorway, noting a certain familiarity, then after a few seconds, Itachi remembered who this person was; he had seen him much earlier today. This slightly older, taller male was wearing the same work clothes from before, though they seemed dirtier than they had been this morning, of course, and as he stood quietly in the doorway, he clutched what appeared to be a wrapped bento* between his hands.

"Hello," Itachi's smooth voice called out softly, and politely, "You're..Shisui-kun, yes?"

Itachi had no idea why the boy he remembered as 'an old friend from Konoha' looked so agitated; he had no idea why the other male stood glaring in the doorway, refusing to come inside, even after he was greeted.

It was a moment before Shisui answered Itachi, seeming as if he had to consider whether or not he actually wanted to, but when he did speak up, his voice came out with a bitter edge to his newly matured voice. (Itachi wasn't sure if it was because Shisui's voice had changed, or if puberty had made Shisui into a more angry person.)

"Don't call me that."

Unaware of having done anything to offend the other male, Itachi began to approach, coming to stand a short distance before his old friend. He gazed at Shisui with calm, dark eyes and a neutral expression, which hid the fact that he was utterly oblivious as to what he had done wrong. "Why? That is your name, if I remember correctly."

Shisui's retort was instantaneous, his tone even more angry than before. "I mean, don't talk to me like we're friends!"

Itachi fell still, and quiet for a moment, taking in his old friend's denial of their friendship, and the openly resentful sound of his voice; the heir considered these small details, analyzing them, but he came to no precise conclusion. Still, his response dropped to a very serious tone, one that he generally only used during 'shinobi' work. "Why shouldn't I?"

A tense, awkward silence fell between the two glaring boys, their eyes locking as one bristled angrily, and the other in offense at the unexplainably rude treatment; it was comparable to the look two territorial tom-cats gave one another just before they started scrapping. This moment was broken, however, when the older woman came into the room to notice her grandson standing in the doorway.

"Ah, Shisui-kun!", the old woman's wrinkles deepened as her lips pulled themselves into a warm, welcoming smile. Long, gnarled fingers of one knobby hand batted the air before the older woman, beckoning Shisui. "Come on, don't just stand in the doorway, come in."

The pair of large, endlessly dark eyes lifted to give the old woman their attention, and their owner spoke up in response, his words softening politely, though his tone was still vaguely cross. "I just came to bring the bento Okaasan prepared for you, Obaasan."

Still not budging from where he stood in the doorway, Shisui lifted the lunch-box into sight, almost as if he expected his grandmother to come to him in order to receive it. It was intolerably rude, and Itachi honestly couldn't believe the older boy would be so disrespectful to his elders; so, since he was already almost within arm's-reach of the older male, Itachi took a few more steps closer to where Shisui was waiting, and he put his hands out to take the lunch-box.

Shisui reacted to this with vehement disgust, or so that was how it appeared. His eyes flashed back over to Itachi as the younger male came closer, and the curly-headed male took a step back, while eyeballing Itachi in offense. With a 'hmph', the older boy thrust the bento out, stretching his arm as far from his body as possible, seeming as though he might be infected with some sort of plague, should he come into unnecessary contact with Itachi.

Saying nothing, the heir just took the bento from his older cousin's hands. However, this strange behavior prompted the older woman to question her grandson's actions.

"What's wrong, Shisui? Why don't you come in and greet your neighbors?"

Hesitantly, Shisui looked from Itachi, over to his grandmother, then back to Itachi, all while remaining in the doorway. The younger Uchiha boy honestly thought that Shisui was about to snap out of his sour mood, and come inside with all the normal people, but what was really occurring was that Shisui was deciding whether or not he should explain his actions.

Unfortunately, he decided to 'grant' all present with an explanation, regardless of how offensive it was, or how much trouble it got him into.

"No way..", the boy outside answered his grandmother first, then hardened his glare in Itachi's direction as he continued, " The last person who lived in this house died, and I heard that the lady Uchiha has become ill. The head family is cursed, and I don't want to come in contact with it, or I'll die, too."

A soft gasp was elicited from the Uchiha heir at the other boy's words, his lips remaining softly parted in shock at what he heard; The old woman, however, hissed sharply at her grandson in offense and embarrassment. "Go away, then, get out of here!"

In a startled jolt, Shisui jumped back away from the door, heeding his grandmother's furious tone; he was also more than happy to do as asked, having wanted to leave as quickly as possible from the beginning. With the rapid pattering of his sandals against the grassy ground, Shisui bolted off in the direction of his home, the sound of his feet fading off beyond earshot within seconds.

Logically, Itachi could just assure himself that his cousin was a different person now, having been exposed to strange and mystical ideas that were all simply ludicrous; but being told in such a harsh manner by another person that your entire family is doomed to die.. it was difficult for the young boy to comprehend.

At one end of the spectrum, the shinobi academy taught all kids at a young age not to fear death, whether it be their own, or that of a loved one. They learned that death wasn't truly 'the end', even though it was the end of a life. Yet, just the same, young shinobi were taught to form compassionate bonds with their family, friends, and allies, and to protect what they cared for most with their lives.

And while death was something that Itachi had a very vivid, and real grasp on, in concept, he wanted to believe that it was only a commonplace occurrence for shinobi, which he no longer was. Trying to imagine some invisible force, such as a curse, harming his family, was just some absurdity that these non-shinobi people made up. It must have had something to do with a terror in relation to death, and the rarity of death even happening.

They had nothing to fear, so they made something up. Yet, strangely enough, for a passing second, Itachi found that he was, indeed, afraid; the idea of an unpredictable death was chilling.

Because of this, the young Uchiha was left staring off into the distance, out the door where the other boy had been standing. His deep, ebony optics shimmered, reflecting the sunshine from outside as they peered, wide-eyed, from beneath his long lashes.

The elderly woman, being the seasoned maternal figure that she was, assumed immediately that the young child before her had been deeply upset by Shisui's words, and she rushed over as quickly as her arthritic gate could carry her, leaning her head down to look Itachi in the face.

"It's alright, Itachi.. Just ignore what he said. He's just being a bully."

The woman's weathered hand laid against the young heir's head, gingerly petting his soft, dark tresses to comfort him as Itachi continued to gaze toward the very threshold where his cousin had been standing. The boy quietly accepted the unfamiliar affections while he watched the rays of light playing along the entranceway. He was busily considering the 'curse' his family was supposedly now burdened by, in relation to the dark creatures he had encountered, himself, when he stepped so thoughtlessly past this very threshold, submitting himself to a condemned fate.

:: ::

[Summer]

"Niisan, is it finished, yet?" The small boy danced about on his toes at his brother's side, trying to catch a good glimpse of what Itachi was doing as he stood before the kamado*.

Deft fingertips brushed back even the most insistent, ravenous child, tapping against the younger male's forehead as Itachi smiled down at him. "Not yet, Sasuke, but almost. Just keep an eye on the fillets for me."

Sasuke grunted, and rubbed his forehead after receiving one of his brother's constant pokes, but he twirled round to scurry merrily out the kitchen door, just as he was instructed to do, not letting Itachi's rejection upset him.

The youngest Uchiha plopped down on his knees before the small grill that had been placed just outside the door. He took a deep, and hungry whiff of the eel fillets as they sizzled over the hot coals, his mouth watering at the sweet yet savory scent, while his small tummy gurgled from emptiness.

It had been a long day of hard work for the entire family, and as they all settled into their new home, having already thanked their helpful neighbors, and seen them off, each of the Uchihas now realized how very starved they were for dinner.

Trying with every ounce of speed and precision that he could muster, the Uchiha heir rushed to finish the dinner that he, admittedly, was also craving as fiercely as his younger brother was. It was a seasonal dish that his family only indulged in during the months of July and August, but it was also one of his more favored meals; this explained why it was on tonight's menu, especially since Itachi was acting as cook in place of his mother.

After stirring the rice, Itachi stepped over to the cutting board, taking the kitchen knife into his more dominant hand, then he sliced the vegetables with care and accuracy.

From the table in the dining room, just right outside the kitchen, the head Uchiha watched his eldest son in fascination. His sharp, black eyes focused, despite his tired appearance, and for a moment he watched Itachi's movements; the boy cooked as naturally as he killed, even though he had been brought up since birth developing his shinobi skills and little else (that included cooking).

Fugaku smiled to himself in secret, looking back down at the journal that sat open, in front of him, atop the table.

[Summer] _'..It's remarkable what sorts of things can occur when one isn't paying very close attention. I had no idea that Mikoto had taught Itachi even a single thing about cooking, yet apparently, right under my nose, my wife trained an expert chef by just asking for Itachi's assistance every now and again._

_In some way that is difficult to explain, it's grounding. I had always been so proudly dedicated to seeing Itachi become a skillful shinobi, while I buried myself in our clan's political struggles. I was so focused on the future, I failed to acknowledge the present, and because of that, I know now that I must have missed so much more than just this one little detail that I'm now discovering._

_In the end, who do I fault for this? Myself? ..or the injustices that have forced me to be, solely, a revolutionary?..'_

"Otousan, what are you writing?"

The man looked up from the page of his journal, his eyes meeting directly with the big, round inkwells that were his youngest son's own optics. Sasuke had decided that it was too hot to remain seated by the grill, and he had scampered inside to refocus his short attention-span.

Now, the small Uchiha child sat beside his father at the table, gazing up at him with curiosity and a soft, warm smile.

"It's just a journal, Sasuke." The man answered his son.

"Yeeah..", Sasuke drew out his word, having already known that it was a journal, and therefore was expressing his innocent irritation with being given an obvious answer. "But what do you write in it?"

Again, the boy just smiled as he anxiously awaited his father's answer. Fugaku, however, had to think before he spoke, uncertain as to the real purpose of his journal, other than it being something he began on a whim.

After a thoughtful pause, the man elaborated on the purpose of the journal, to appease his son's curiosity. "I decided that I wanted to document things that happen each day from now on; this way, when years have passed, and things have changed, I can look back on things I might otherwise forget."

"Ohh.." Accepting this explanation without a shred of doubt that it was the complete truth, Sasuke just nodded his head, and let his eyes flicker down to the journal as it sat on the table.

Fugaku, however, looked back up in the direction of the kitchen, finding that Itachi was serving rice and vegetables into bowls for the family, yet he was looking inquisitively over his shoulder, having obviously been listening to his father's answer, as well. The young heir's lips pulled into the smallest of smiles, but he faced forward again seconds after, seemingly devoting his attention to his work. (Though, really, he was attempting to keep his thoughts and emotions submerged and mysterious.)

Sure that he caught a glimpse of his eldest son's rare but entirely lovely expression, the older man smiled to himself, as well.

"Hey, Otousan." Sasuke's sweet little voice chimed up again in excitement. "Can I draw a picture for you in your journal?"

Fugaku turned to look at Sasuke, who was still sitting fondly at his side, and he nodded his head to the boy as he answered. "Of course. Go ahead."

:: ::

[Summer]

Satisfied from dinner, Itachi crouched in the corner of the kitchen as his father cleaned up the dishes; the young heir couldn't help but chuckle at how tediously the man worked at scrubbing the glassware, while not being nearly as quick and proficient at it as his wife was. (Luckily for Uchiha Fugaku, the mess was minimal; Itachi mostly picked up after himself as he cooked.)

Shaking his head, Itachi opened up the wood-stove that fed through the half wall in the kitchen to warm the bathtubs on the other side. A thin hand reached up to grab the uchiwa* that hung on a hook on the wall, and the rounded fan was used to fan the small, flickering embers inside the stove, the soft gusts of oxygen bringing them to life.

In order to prepare the water for their bath, Itachi took it upon himself to heat the stove, observing that he had kindled just enough flame, and that he now needed to add a few logs to the fire. He shut the oven door, and took to his feet, passing behind his father with a quick, "I'll be right back."

The heir sauntered out the kitchen door, sliding it closed behind him, and he ran across the grassy yard to where he had already discovered a pile of firewood, earlier. As he reached the pile of cut logs, he stood there looking around, tracing the lightless edges of the forest beyond the yard with his eyes.

It had already grown dark since dinner, and Itachi found the quiet outside to be much too eerie and still; in Konoha, even from the residency areas, the sounds of people doing this and that still echoed from the busier areas of town, and the lights from downtown glowed brightly enough to illuminate all of the village.

Knowing that you were surrounded at all times by hundreds of ally shinobi, tucked inside walls that kept the village safe- It was comfortable, and familiar, and felt very safe. This rural environment, however, where space was abundant and homes were secluded- This felt perhaps not tightly knit enough to be safe.

It left Itachi wondering what sorts of things skulked about at night, unhindered by protective walls and fences? His shinobi instincts, as hard as he tried to deny them, spoke vigorously in the back of his mind, reminding him that, 'when things are abnormally quiet, one should be on guard for ambushes of all kinds.'

Unable to see or hear anything, the young heir quickly began gathering up an armful of firewood for the stove, wanting to get it done in a hurry, so he could head back inside. As soon as he bent down and had lifted a few pieces of the cut wood into his arms, however, the wind suddenly picked up.

All had been entirely still, until this unexplainable and unusually strong gust blew past, whipping at the young Uchiha's bangs, causing them to rustle across his forehead, and blow off to one side, tickling against his lashes. The boy lifted his head, eyes gazing up at the trees as their leafy branches jostled violently; those tall, mighty trees looked as though their height would betray them as their widespread arms caught the furious air current, bending them at their thick trunks, testing their strength and endurance.

Then, though the sky was mostly cloudless, a surge of force that typically only accompanied a destructive tempest, cut through the open valley, flattening the tall grasses against the dirt, and tearing into the young Uchiha as he stood, unsuspecting. The force of the wind struck the boy so hard that he stumbled backward, keeping his balance only by releasing the firewood in his arms to steady himself, though as he let the wood go, he spun in disbelief to watch as his cargo was swept up in a draft, and carried off into the sky by the current.

The surrounding trees cried out into the night, their branches creaking and cracking as they were harshly lashed, and the leaves rattled violently against one another in the whistling gusts to chorus these wails with a noisy hiss of movement. Again, Itachi looked up to the sky, unable to explain this strange, storm-like phenomena that was unaccompanied by clouds or rain or thunder; It rekindled his anxiousness to get himself back inside his new home, and he hurriedly collected some more wood for the stove, and rushed back toward the house.

::

[Summer]

The house windows were shut, the night oddly cool, despite it still being summer. The glass of the window was fogged beyond transparency from the temperature of the air outside, colliding with the dampened heat now locked inside.

In the washroom next to the kitchen, the tired Uchiha family now relaxed from their day's work, unwinding as they cleaned off all of the grime and sweat from moving. The goemonburo* tub was brimming with water, hot from the fire in the stove, and freshly fragrant from added bath salts and minerals. The perfumed scent rose from the still surface of the water, hanging heavy and moist and warm in the air, the light of a flickering lantern seeming obscured from the mist.

Relaxing with his back against one side of the tub, and a towel atop his head was Fugaku, his tired eyes hidden beneath heavy lids as he soaked, his pale skin vibrantly gleaming against the dark brown of the tub, though it wavered about in the crisp but murky water.

On the other end of the large, round tub was Sasuke, having already been scrubbed clean and rinsed by his older brother; now he soaked while waiting for his brother to finish washing. His tiny arms were curled atop the edge of the tub, his chin resting delicately upon one of his wrists as his large, inky eyes patiently watched Itachi bathe himself. (He was so quiet and calm now, because of the relaxing warmth of the water.)

The young heir had almost finished, having already meticulously scrubbed his long hair, and rinsed it, and now he had it twisted up on top of his head to prevent it from becoming soapy again as he washed his body.

Itachi washed himself with just as much dedication, feeling that he had gotten more filthy than usual just doing chores, as compared to his shinobi missions, ironically. He rubbed his entire frame down with a soapy washcloth, not allowing a single inch of himself to go untouched, and at the point that he was covered entirely in soapsuds, they seemed to be almost the exact same color as his porcelain flesh.

The wind outside, just as irregular as it had been earlier, came in random bursts, shattering the peace of the bathing family's quietude suddenly with a gust that rattled the sliding doors and windows on their tracks, filling the entire house with a great shaking racket.

Sasuke found himself tensing at this noise, because it came out of nowhere, just like some terrifying beast; he had always associated storms with monsters for some unknown reason, despite the strange fact that he slept the heaviest when the weather turned foul.

Itachi, on the other hand, bristled in recollection of how the wind had targeted him outside earlier, almost as though it had it's own thoughts and desires, and was determined to carry him away for some nefarious purpose. He shook his head at his own thoughts; he was letting this place distort the separation of whimsy and reality in his mind.

"Otousan?" Sasuke softly spoke up, his voice delicate and bell-like as he broke the silence between the family members. "Why is it so windy outside?"

Calm, reserved Fugaku didn't break his poised neutrality, remaining laid back against the side of the tub, undaunted by the weather outside. "It sounds like a storm is brewing."

Sasuke dipped himself down into the warmth of the tub nervously, as if to hide from the storm his father mentioned. He responded in his same curious tone, his voice tinged with fear that was entirely genuine. "What if it blows the house away?"

For a second, Fugaku said nothing, considering his own answer to the question, attempting to humor Sasuke, despite his childish inability to recognize what was unlikely. When he did decide upon his answer, he scoffed at it before it had even been spoken, enlightening his son's moments after. "Well, I hope not, or we'll have to move back to Konoha."

Glancing back at his father, Itachi let a look of subtle displeasure come over his face, his heart troubled at just the notion of going back; he preferred curses and evil spirits over the thought of rebellion and war. (Fugaku didn't see his son's expression, however. He still hadn't looked up.)

As if to demonstrate some potential at making Sasuke's fears come true, the wind sharply picked up again, rattling all the doors as if the glass had been struck by some sort of powerful explosion, as well as causing the tin of the roof on the outhouse to flap about metallically. (It seemed a bucket from the well toppled over outside, also.)

But, just as quickly as it came, the wind vanished into nothing, falling utterly still and silent. This was when Fugaku decided to lift his head, and look toward the window with a furrowed brow.

"That's very strange..", the man commented. He had never known the weather to be so irregular in the Fire Country, aside from when it was acting as an omen for disaster. (He recalled the weather being very strange the nights before the Kyuubi escaped, too.)

All three Uchiha quietly listened to the silence with baited breath, almost certain that the wind would return at any moment, and none of them wanted to be spooked or surprised. But, instead of the wind returning to howl and rattle the doors, amidst the silence, a quiet sound from outside caught the family's attention.

Perhaps it was a soft breeze pouring over the top of an empty bottle somewhere, but it resembled the call of an owl, though it carried a melodious tune much too actively for any bird or bottle, like a person playing a flute from the trees; a flute that sounded nothing like a flute.

"It sounds..", the young heir whispered as the soap subs slowly crept down his skin during his pause, "..like an owl, but not quite."

No matter what it was, Itachi had grown stiff from staying so completely still, and he was becoming cold from being wet outside the tub. He took the bucket that was sitting nearby, and he splashed the water from within upon himself, rinsing in the warm, clean water, his pale flesh prickling from the sudden presence of warmth, only for it to grow cold once again.

After the sound of the water splashing and flowing down through the drain in the floor dulled, the whistling outside had vanished as well, leaving once again an eerie silence. Itachi stood, and stepped over to the tub, slowly lowering into the welcoming warm embrace of the steaming water.

The older Uchiha son settled in close to his tense sibling, and Sasuke's small hands came to cling to Itachi's arm as the boy's wet head laid against him. They both must have seemed tired and stressed, the new sights and sounds of the home they just moved into grinding at their nerves.

Fugaku was certain that his two son's would get used to the place, but in the meantime, he opted to cheer them up. (This was usually Mikoto's speciality, so he wasn't exactly sure how best to do so.) The man gave the two young boys a nudge with his foot to get their attention, and as they both turned their dark eyes to him, he wisely advised them, his words coming out with a playful edge. "The two of you had best do what Nani-san told you, and keep smiles on your faces."

This tactic worked with ease on Sasuke, in fact he chuckled in remembrance of Nani's words and actions. "Obaasan told you to smile, too, Otousan!" (Itachi merely grinned demurely, leaving it uncertain as to whether it was in response to his father's words, or his brother's.)

Nodding his head, despite the reference to his moment of embarrassment, Fugaku agreed with the notion of keeping a smile, as often as he failed to do so. "We'll all have to wear smiles from now on, I suppose.." The man sighed, and he crossed his arms over his chest, his own expression entirely serious, despite his words. "..That way, we'll deceive even the spirits into thinking that we've yet to feel daunted."

Sasuke spoke no response, honestly unsure of what his father was getting at. Itachi, however, was certain that his father was speaking of the stresses that they had already endured, along with those that were to come, in the future. It was all very uncertain, but for Fugaku in particular, times would soon grow difficult, and Itachi knew that as well. (He was grateful to the point of guilt concerning the sacrifices his father was making, all on his own word.)

"Sasuke..", Itachi broke the silence, "I left your towel on the shelf over there, along with your sleep clothes. You can get out now, if you want."

Nodding his head, the small child took his older brother's advice, his cheeks flushed a rosy red from the heat of the water; he'd clearly been in the tub long enough. He kept his movements slow, so to not cause himself any lightheadedness from rising too quickly. (Also, he was getting sleepy.)

The elder sibling watched Sasuke carefully as the boy crawled from the tub, making sure that the younger male was cautious in his own movements; Sasuke had gotten all the way over to the shelf, and had begun to dry his small frame before Itachi looked away.

"So.." Fugaku addressed his elder son, now that they were alone, and could speak more seriously; however, for a single passing moment, Fugaku smiled almost coyly. "You don't regret your decision yet, do you, Itachi?"

With a countenance untainted by emotion, Itachi shook his head. "No, of course not." (He was obviously tired, though, the gray-tinged creases beneath his eyes just a bit darker at the very corners.)

"I see." With an air of casualty, the older male continued. "I wanted to thank you for all your help, and your hard work today. I honestly thought we'd fall apart without your mother to keep us together."

Itachi shook his head, rejecting his father's verbal gratitude. "It's no problem, Otousan.. Okaasan is ill, so naturally somebody has to take up her duties, and do everything she normally did for us. I realized at the time that I made this choice that it would be me."

Now, Fugaku shook his head to his son's words. "I didn't expect that of you, Itachi, nor do I require it."

In a delicate movement, Itachi shrugged his pale, narrow shoulders, a soft smile on his pinkish lips, though his head was angled downward. "Perhaps not, but it's only right." Dark eyes lifted to connect with the sharp pair belonging to Fugaku, and Itachi allowed his father to look upon a most modest expression. "I'm not a shinobi now. You kindly allowed me to be removed from that responsibility, so I'll gladly take up this one, instead."

After a few short moments, Itachi shifted his gaze again, though he still appeared entirely humble, and genuine in what he was saying, even if he didn't look up as he did so. "You're doing a lot for us in moving us away from Konoha, Tousan, and I don't want to take that for granted. I'll still be here to help you in any way I can, even if that means I'm carrying the weight of Okaasan's tasks."

Once more, Itachi let his eyes be seen from beneath the obscuring tendrils of his bangs, so that his father could observe the glimmer of honesty surfacing from deep within as he elaborated. "Everything she did, now, I'll do gladly, because I chose this for us. And if there is any task that I neglect, just tell me, Tousan, and I will do as you say."

Fugaku listened carefully to his son, finding Itachi's immense gratitude greatly inspiriting, yet he couldn't help but think his son's shyness in speaking of this was somehow suspicious. (He wondered if Itachi was being his typically odd self, ever mysterious, even when expressing something verbally; speaking one thing, leaving people to assume his words had alternate meanings.)

Softly, in response, his voice calm yet stern, Fugaku spoke in acceptance of his son's offerings. "..Very well, Itachi."

Itachi gave a soft nod of his head in return, smiling in his own secretive, yet demure fashion as he kept his eyes elsewhere. They were not allowed to wander any longer, however, when Sasuke finally announced his readiness for bed, having gotten himself dressed and ready; The elder sibling turned his warm gaze to his Otouto as Sasuke's sweet, but tired voice interrupted. "Hey, Niisan, let's go to bed, come on."

"Alright, alright, Sasuke, I'm coming." Itachi's voice was soft and delicate as he pulled his outstretched legs inward, his foot accidentally brushing against his father's own, though Itachi spoke nothing of it. The heir simply lifted himself from the tub, pausing long enough to let most of the water pour off of him, then he carefully stepped out, and walked over to the shelf to grab up his towel.

:: ::

[Summer]

"_..Once upon a time there were three billy goats, who would go up to the hillside to make themselves fat, and the name of all three was "Gruff."_

_On the way up was a bridge over a cascading stream they had to cross; and under the bridge lived a great ugly troll, with eyes as big as saucers.._"

In one room near the hallway, where all the doors had been slid shut, two sleeping mats and blankets were rolled out on a tatami floor. These mats sat directly together, one belonging to Itachi, who sat upright with a book poised atop his knees, the other belonging to Sasuke, who laid upon his soft, fluffy pillow, with his spiky head rested near his brother's hip as he listened to the tale being told.

"_..So first of all came the youngest Billy Goat Gruff to cross the bridge. 'Clip, clop, clip, clop! ' went the bridge._

_"Who's that clip-clopping over my bridge?" roared the troll._

_"Oh, it is only I, the tiniest Billy Goat Gruff , and I'm going up to the hillside to make myself fat," said the billy goat, with such a small voice._

_"Now I'm coming to gobble you up," said the troll._

_"Oh, no! Pray don't take me. I'm too little, that I am," said the billy goat. "Wait a bit until the second Billy Goat Gruff comes. He's much bigger."_

_"Well, be off with you," said the troll.."_

At the other side of Itachi's sleeping mat was a lantern, where one tiny, moonlight-colored moth danced against the glass cover over the flickering flame, his wings beating wildly, causing the glass to ring softly from his movements.

This one lantern was the only light in the entire bedroom, and it poured over the pages of the book in Itachi's lap, giving him just enough visibility to read the story to his younger sibling.

"_...A little while after came the second Billy Goat Gruff to cross the bridge. 'Clip, clop, clip, clop!' went the bridge._

_"Who's that clip-clopping over my bridge?" roared the troll._

_"Oh, it's the second Billy Goat Gruff, and I'm going up to the hillside to make myself fat," said the billy goat, who hadn't such a small voice._

_"Now I'm coming to gobble you up," said the troll._

_"Oh, no! Don't take me. Wait a little until the big Billy Goat Gruff comes. He's much bigger."_

_"Very well! Be off with you," said the troll._.."

Since the family wasn't fully unpacked as of yet, all three would be sleeping in the same room on these mats; Itachi had taken his father's mat out from the closet and left it laying beside Sasuke's, still folded up neatly upon the floor.

When Fugaku finally came from the bath, dressed in his loose-fitting sleeping robe, he took quiet, tentative steps, walking carefully, so as to not rouse Sasuke from getting to sleep.

The man looked in Itachi's direction, catching the slightest upward glance of acknowledgment, then the clan head set to work unfolding his sleeping mat and blanket, and neatly arranging them before he sat himself down on top.

"_...But, just then, up came the big Billy Goat Gruff._

'_Clip, clop, clip, clop!' went the bridge, for the billy goat was so heavy that the bridge creaked and groaned under him._

_"Who's that tramping over my bridge?" roared the troll._

_"It's I! The big Billy Goat Gruff," said the billy goat, who had an ugly, hoarse voice of his own._

_"Now I'm coming to gobble you up," roared the troll._

'_..Well, come along! I've got two spears,_

_And I'll poke your eyeballs out at your ears;_

_I've got beside me two curling-stones,_

_And I'll crush you to bits, body and bones..'_

_That was what the big billy goat said. Then he flew at the troll, and poked his eyes out with his horns, then crushed him to bits, body and bones, and tossed him out into the cascade. After that he went up to the hillside..."_

Once more, Fugaku stole a glance in his sons' direction, seeing Itachi's eyes flicker up from the book as is was shut and placed aside.

The man laid down upon his mat, covering himself in a blanket as he settled his head on his pillow.

Itachi peered down at his brother, now that he had finished the story, seeing Sasuke with his eyes shut peacefully, and his lips parted slightly as he breathed deep and evenly in slumber.

Frail fingers reached out to kill the flame of the lantern, turning a small knob so the wick ducked down into a narrow sliver in the glass, extinguishing the flame; after that, the room was engulfed in darkness that was only broken by the moonlight coming in from the hall windows, which was extinguished, itself, every now and again, by the movement of the clouds in the nighttime sky.

In the clutches of this darkness, Itachi also settled on his back, and covered himself, falling easily asleep, despite the occasional rustle from the attic, or whistle from the trees outside.

:: ::

...tbc...

::

-Japanese Lesson!-

*Bento; This is a lunchbox.

*Kamado; A Kamado is an old-style Japanese oven. It involves creating heat by burning wood or coals. These aren't used anymore today, I'm sure, but I threw it in to remain true to the 'time period' of the original Totoro, plus, the Narutoverse technology seems a bit 'here and there'. (They have electronics, but no cars/guns/etc.)

*Uchiwa; An Uchiwa is a round fan used to fan flames. People also use them to fan themselves during hot parts of the year. And yes, this is the same fan that is used as the Uchiha clan's crest; their name 'Uchiha' is derived from 'Uchiwa', and the fan represents their lineage, as they typically wield fire-type ninjutsu, and the fan is used to strengthen flames.

*Goemonburo; This is a pretty famous type of Japanese tub. In short, a sort of oven beneath the tub heats the water. The tubs are generally round, and can be only large enough to occupy one person or larger than that. (Such as the one in the story, lol.)

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